Is Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?

MARVEL'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - 'Asgard War, Part Two: Rescue Me' - The Guardians and Asgardians team up to rescue Quill from Thanos. This episode of 'Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy' airs Sunday, April 17 (8:00 - 8:30 A.M. EDT) on Disney XD. (Disney XD via Getty Images)THANOS /

As Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the overall story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, does Thanos appear in the movie?

Spoiler Warning: If you’ve not seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and don’t want to risk finding out things about the movie, stop right here. Otherwise, read at your own risk.

Just as a self-contained movie, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had plenty of hype leading up to its release. After the immense quality and success of the first film, that’s no surprise. Fans want to see what Star-Lord and company will get up to next, and get answers to questions. That last part, though, figures into a larger element at play. Comic book fans want to see what’s going on with the overall story in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And a big piece of the story appeared in the first one: Thanos.

Essentially, everything in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is building to a showdown with Thanos. That will likely be the subject of the two upcoming Avengers movies, starting with Infinity War in 2018. And considering that Thanos made an appearance in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s reasonable to assume that he might appear again in Vol. 2 to further the MCU’s larger plot.

However, one of the things that’s revealed early in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is that it doesn’t follow the same timeline as other recent releases. In fact, the events of Vol. 2 are set in 2014 as opposed to present day. Thus, it’s place in the MCU is a bit obscured.

As a result of that timeline placement, GotG Vol. 2 is one of the most self-contained Marvel movies ever made. The story is basically only a tale of the Guardians, specifically pertaining to Peter Quill/Star-Lord and his uniting with his father. It’s a great movie, but doesn’t do anything, really for the MCU.

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So, to answer the simple question of if Thanos is in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — no, he isn’t. He has no real place in the timeline as he’s preparing for bigger things in present day.