The Watchers are Watching

Guardians of the Galaxy is one of the best films in the MCU. James Gunn‘s film was a wonderful tale of a merry band of space-misfits deciding they needed to band together to help guard…the galaxy. Soon enough the Guardians will be joining the MCU in full-force when they help to fight Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. But looking forward to the next film hasn’t stopped some fans from looking to the past. James Gunn has always said there are quite a few Easter eggs in the Guardians of the Galaxy films that still remain unnoticed. Quite a few fans took that as a challenge.

So a Reddit user by the name of lawleeeer recently found a few exciting characters in the background of the first film. He recently posted this image, revealing what could be the Watchers in the background of the first meeting of the Guardians of the galaxy.

What a catch! Those are almost undoubtedly the Watchers moving in the background of that scene. And why do we know that? Because the Watchers appear in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2!

Twice the characters appear speaking to none other than Stan Lee! Well, speaking isn’t the right word. More like listening, observing, and watching. They might not yet have any significance to the MCU, but the fact that they’re making their way through the films could mean the characters have a part to play in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. 

But there might be more to this Easter Egg. Going from the background of one film to a full-fledged cameo in another is a big deal. It implies that the Watchers do have a part to play in the MCU. Just what could that part be?

Uatu the Watcher

There’s one watcher who does more than observe: Uatu the Watcher. The character isn’t always a good guy and certainly isn’t always a bad guy. He’s broke his oath of non-involvement to tell the Fantastic Four about the arrival of Galactus. But he’s also lied to the Fantastic Four in order to protect the interests of The Celestials, whom he works for. However, the Watchers are a unique part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Have you seen the Fantastic Four in the MCU lately? Probably not. But you’ve seen the Watchers in the cinematic Universe. The Watchers are a “shared” part of both the Marvel Studios-owned characters and those owned by 20th Century Fox. This means that the two companies had to come to an agreement for the characters to make an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 with Stan Lee.

With all of the new Fox and Disney Marvel News in the past few months, this could mean that the Watchers have a major part to play in the MCU or in the convergence of the MCU and the Fox Marvel properties. That probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon, but the Watchers could be the connecting factor that brings the entire Marvel Universe together. If you thought Avengers: Infinity War, or all of the memes going around, was the biggest cross-over event of all time. Imagine the film that attempts to bring Marvel together.

Who knows? Maybe Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will feature the Watchers in an expanded role. One that helps to bridge the worlds of Fox and Marvel Studios.