Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Includes Deep-Cut Easter Eggs for High Evolutionary

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 concluded James Gunn's trilogy of cosmic adventures starring "a bunch of a-holes" with a story diving into Rocket's mysterious backstory. It turned out that a mad scientist called The High Evolutionary, played by Chukwudi Iwuji in what some are calling one of Marvel Studios' greatest villain performances, created Rocket as part of his ongoing experiments to try to create a perfect society. However, Rocket and his friends were neither the first nor the last of The High Evolutionary's twisted projects. For example, he also created the Sovereign, the golden-skinned species introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Two more of The High Evolutionary's experiments are mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: the Xeronians and the Ani-men. Both are deep-cut references to the Marvel Comics universe.

Who are the Xeronians mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

The Xeronians are a large, orange-skinned alien race with five eyes (though they only use two at a time) that first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #102 in 1968, created by Gary Friedrich and Marie Severin. They come from the planet Xeron in the Milky Way galaxy.

In the comics, the Xeronians have no connection to the High Evolutionary. However, the most famous Xeroninan, Randau, their former king, did undergo modifications similar to the experiments that the High Evolutionary is known for conducting, transforming him into the villainous Space Parasite.

Who are the Ani-Men mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

The Ani-Men do have a directed connection to The High Evolutionary in the comics or at least one version of them. There have been at least five different iterations of the villainous group over Marvel's history, and one of them was created by and served The High Evolutionary directly.

The original Ani-Men were simple villains given animal-themed costumes, first appearing in Daredevil #10 in 1968, created by Wally Wood and Bob Powell. The High Evolutionary's Animen (he dropped the hyphen) had their only appearance in Scarlet Spider Unlimited #1 in 1995), created by Glenn Herdling and Todd Smith. These Animen were some of The High Evolutionary's New Men, human-animal hybrids like those seen on Counter-Earth in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Cast

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 synopsis reads, "Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill must rally his team to defend the universe and protect one of their own. If the mission is not completely successful, it could possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them."

James Gunn wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The movie star Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, with Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot and Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, and Maria Bakalova as the voice of Cosmo.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now playing in movie theaters.