The Reason Fans Think They've Discovered The Last Guardians Of The Galaxy Easter Egg

James Gunn, the writer and director of the first two movies in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy series — and, if nothing goes horribly wrong again, the planned third entry — loves his Easter eggs. He hides them in his onscreen xenoscript, in his massive piles of alien skulls, and in his bald-faced willingness to include Howard the Duck in a multi-billion dollar superhero franchise.

This enthusiasm for hidden details has turned the Guardians movies into the Zapruder film of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gunn's insistence that cinema gumshoes haven't yet uncovered every secret in his first Guardians flick has only added fuel to the fanboy flame, and his Facebook promise of $100,000 to the man who could prove he was lying? Well, that had the internet leapfrogging over the "evidence of absence" fallacy and straight into days-long viewing parties and deep-dive analyses of every baby-smooth inch of Chris Pratt's frame. Yeah, that's why.

Now, weary and dry-eyed, fans think they might have spotted the final Guardians of the Galaxy Easter egg. It's complicated, far-reaching, and suspiciously free of Pepe Silvia, all things considered, but James Gunn saw it and said "amazing work." So, like, that's something. Right?

The YouTuber channel New Rockstars premiered their theory in a 2020 video post, later posted to Twitter and prayer-hands-emoji'd by James Gunn. In the video, they outline what they believe to be a meaty web of onscreen clues, with detail piling upon detail, pointing to Star Lord's mother being — very much on the down-low — a cosmic being, and not just a Looking Glass fan from Missouri.

It's a compelling theory with a lot of homework behind it, from Peter Quill's visions of his dying mother against a starry background, and the way he witnesses "Eternity," which is the name of the leader of Marvel's cosmic pantheon. There's also a story regarding how Eternity helped craft the Infinity Stones, which would help to explain why Peter could handle one without evaporating.

It's a far-out theory, and there's no way of knowing how much of it is right. Fans will just have to wait until Guardians of the Galaxy Part 3, which Gunn has claimed will be his final addition to the franchise. There's only one thing known for sure, even though it may have gotten past casual viewers: According to one of the founding Guardians, "I am Groot."