Strange how James Gunn is considered to have “made Marvel just funny all the time”, yet his films are the some of the darkest movies in the MCU. Literally all of his main villains commit genocide.

I know time travel/multiverse stuff is kinda overplayed rn, but seeing Nebula off her past self to protect her sister was a heavy scene

One of my favorite small touches in any blockbuster is when Nebula breaks into a few tears when she finds out Rocket is okay over the intercom in Vol. 3.

"You were the one who wanted to win and I JUST WANTED A SISTER!" Goddamn what a gut punch. I'm tearing up just writing this.

Karen Gillan is so good in this role. Best thing in the whole MCU.

I've realized I genuinely love Nebula, she's one of my favorite MCU characters.

8:16 There's a fun fan theory that I'm quite fond of with regards to this issue: i.e., Thanos didn't actually love Gamora, but he loved his view of himself as her savior and father. And in order to get the Soul Stone, he had to give up this view of himself (i.e., the thing he actually loved most in the universe) by killing her.

“You always wanted to win, I just wanted a sister” gets me every time 🥺

Here to mention Nebula's relationship with rocket is super special, even though so much of it was off screen. They only had each other for 5 years. The character moments they get together are easy to overlook, but beautiful.

Thank you for a fantastic video. Nebula wasn't anyone's Hollywood pitch. A grim supporting villain in inexpressive face makeup, not even abs or cleavage. But Karen Gillan is an absolute prize and one thing the MCU and James Gunn both do well is letting the actors elevate the material. Nebula made sense as an ongoing hero with an ongoing arc and the movies delivered. And only once had to stoop to anyone noticing her robot eyes were pretty.

You forgot something In guardians 3 rocket is pretty much her brother. For 5 years it was just her and him as the guardians. Hell all those upgrades she got are from him. The guardians are a found family but those two are the closest of the bunch. This really matters as 1. She understands rockets pain both physically and mentally And 2. When he almost dies it’s like losing her sister all over again

Nebula silently finding a healthy father figure in Tony Stark while being stranded in space was something I never expected, but one of the best and most wholesome unexpected things that stick with me after all the MCU greats. Part of me imagines she would be a cool older sister to Morgan who visits Earth every now and then with some interesting space stuff in tow.

The last scene in Guardians 3 where she's finally happy dancing to “Dog Days are Over” is just perfection

MCU is full of sibling relationships but Gamora's and Nebula's has always been my favourite and Nebula's redemption arc is probably the best one in fiction. The way she goes from someone who would rather cut off her own hand than take the one extended to her to being someone who would sacrifice anything to save others is just beautiful. And the fact that this redemption arc doesn't end with death but with happy ending means everything.

I’m going to send this video to then next person who tries to tell me that Thanos is super sympathetic/a good guy.

I love Nebula and the only thing missing from her arc is being able to off Thanos instead of Tony. Her joy in playing paper football... I smile when she smiles. It's so wholesome.

Nebula has one of the best redemption arcs in the MCU.

The paper football scene made me cry more than any other scene in Endgame

Glad to see someone talk about Nebula, one of my favorite MCU characters. She is genuinely underrated.

Nebula's story arch is my absolute favorite. Seeing her so happy at the end of GoTG 3, brought tears to my eyes.

as someone with an abusive parent its really inspiring to see myself in nebula, it gives me hope

That fight betwen Nebula & Gamora still tears me up. She is definitely a character elevated by the MCU.

Note: in Infinity war Thanos obtains three infinity gems by promising not killing someone. Thor for the space Stone, Nebula for the soul stone and Ironman for the time stone. After the snap, these 3 are still alive.

Part of me wishes there was more MCU content set during the five years of the blip. During that time, Rocket was the only surviving friend that Nebula had. It’s not like the two of them were particularly close before the blip, but when they reunite in the beginning of Endgame it’s pretty touching. Each of them was the only family that the other had at that point. I’d like to know more about how those two bonded during that time.

I mean, Nebula goes through an unimaginable amount of trauma, but at least she gets a happy ending? I guess it could be worse.

Now that Gunn is done with MCU and GOTG, I’m gonna miss all the characters from GOTG. They felt more real than literally every other character in every other MCU series. One exception is Killmonger

karen gillian as nebula was one of the few mcu characters where i noticed the acting was superb. so excited she can go do other stuff now, especially with the satisfying ending of gotg3

As an aside, Nebula's story (among others) is one I've used to help people understand why it's so hard to leave/escape abusive dynamics. The "programming" was so strong in her. I know what that's like. You know it's bad, but your captor (abuser, father, husband, wife, mother) makes you believe one of a million things that keeps you from leaving ❤

Nebula's story arc is one that gradually returns her empathy, compassion, and (for lack of a better term because she is an alien), her humanity. She gains that through exposure to the Guardians of the Galaxy, coming to see the notion of FAMILY as something to be nurtured and adopted, and not the horrific, abusive, and maligned concept that Thanos fostered among his "children." Quill, Gamorra, Drax, Rocket, Groot, and Mantis showed her that sharing bonds between them not only gave their lives purpose and direction, but also made them more powerful than most deities and gods of the universe, when they fought to preserve life and communities. Nebula then encounters the concept of sacrifice and dignity when she's left alone with Tony Stark, as she witnesses Dr. Strange make a bargain with Thanos to spare his life, and then Tony doing everything in his power to return to Earth. There, she's reunited with Rocket, and after the Avengers failed initially to retrieve the infinity stones from her genocidal father, she embraces a role as a defender and protector of the remaining life on other planets. We don't see what she and Rocket witnessed or endured during that time, but that time spent among survivors trying to make sense of a life after their loved ones and communities were decimated must have left a profound impact on her, especially as she must have been struggling with her own grief and remorse after losing Gamorra and her own circle of friends. Furthermore, to be partnered with Rocket, a creature with his own hang-ups about his creator and life purpose, significantly solidified their relationship as two misfit toys trying to make their way through life. After Endgame, Nebula's motivations of rage and revenge are replaced with a desire for connections. To see her standing stoically at Tony's funeral on the brink of tears was a sight to behold, because it was about more than just the 2 of them surviving in deep space playing paper football. He had treated her as an equal, and a teammate, and had relied on her to survive for as long as he did before being rescued. Once she joined the Guardians full time, Nebula carried on with their commitment to preserving life and ending conflict, still barking orders and viciously attacking opponents, but never veered into destructive habits again. I think my favorite moments in her arc came in the Christmas special when she gifts Rocket with a Winter Soldier arm, and the culmination of her character development when she stands up to Gamorra in GOTG Vol 3. In that critical scene, past Gamorra (who hasn't experienced that same relationship history with the Guardians) is refusing to seek out the High Evolutionary, thinking that they would be outmatched in an obvious suicide mission, so she wants to abandon course, and Nebula refuses. Nebula sees there's no time to waste as Rocket is dying on an operating table, and taking Gamorra back to the Ravagers would take up precious time, so she rejects that plan and confronts her sister. Gamorra is indignant at being told no by her sister, and tries to leverage her familial relationship to Nebula as more important than that of Rocket's ("I'm family!"), to which Nebula replies, "so is he." There is no greater purpose for her in that movie than to save the life of someone she has chosen to be her "family." She has finally found companionship and trust and love with a group of outsiders who know what a sadist and monster she once was, and allowed her to evolve and grow, finding her empathy and humanity and renouncing the homicidal way of thinking that was beaten into her by Thanos. I know she hasn't been a core character to the MCU, but, to me, Nebula is one of the most compelling and relatable heroes of the Marvel films.

Next to Steve’s story (the best) and Tony’s ( the most important) Nebula’s story is the most tragic and beautiful.

One thing I liked in GOTG 3 is how she’s the first one to tell Peter about all the children aboard the ship and insists they can’t leave without saving them. Remember that in GOTG 2 she suggests leaving without Peter. I really like how it just has that happen without drawing a lot of attention to it

All of the guardians movies explored many very complex dynamics of family. Sibling relationships, abandonment, found family, abuse, loss, etc. Thank you so much to GoTG for infusing color back into the MCU as well as heart ❤

A Nebula analysis was one hundred percent necessary, she’s one of the better characters in the MCU

It's wild to have this background (upgraded eventually to main) character's story laid out chronologically. she really earned every inch of her bitterness. But somehow she made her way through it.

Nebula also goes to show what, in my opinion, the most important part of a redemption arc is: *Time*. This was a character arc that played out over years, not minutes. We got to truly know Nebula both before and during her growth; we got to learn exactly why needs to be redeemed, and the trauma she carried that prevented that from happening. And when she did begin to turn to the side of good, it wasn't instantaneous; first, she had to reconcile with Gamora. Second, she had to try to kill Thanos, only to lose her chance. Third, she had to find new purpose in a world without Thanos. And finally, she overcame her inner demons during the events of Endgame. No last minute redemptions in a single line of dialogue from one of the good guys. Her arc was slow, and patient, and that's what made it so great.

One of my favorite things with Nebula is, ironically, Gamora's character in gotg3. Gamora is in a really similar place to how Nebula was earlier in the saga, and it just throws into perspective how MUCH her behavior was rooted in trauma and Thanos- and that she was only changed through time, hard work, and support from her friends. The way Gamora is left off in the movie supports this too, where she's still going back to the ravagers, she's *not* being reset to the first Gamora and rejoining the guardians or hooking up with Peter, but there's an opening there now. She needs the time Nebula had. i really hope the executives running the mcu right now take a hard look at WHY this movie was successful. none of the arcs in it would've worked had the solid foundations not been laid in every movie leading up to it. it wasn't the cgi battles that got people to see it and praise it, it wasn't the mulTIVerSE, it was stories and characters that were consistent and had a point.

I really liked this video because trying to keep track of one character's development over multiple movies is hard. I saw most of the movies, but I just couldn't track what was going on with Nebula. Thank you for retelling this story in a straightforward manner

Nebula has been my favorite MCU character because of Karen Gillian’s acting. Thanks for the presentation

She's one of my favorites. I love her arc, and I'm happy with how she landed in GOTG 3.

I love how it was a slow process rather than BOOM good guy now

Thanos in the comics has a "better" reason for killing half of the universe: he's in love with Death and wants to send her a bunch of people. She doesn't love him back. It makes him angry. Also, I guess she DOES love Deadpool!

I'm glad she survived the snap because she gained so much humanity over those five years, being away from Thanos and even Gamora who always reminded her of her awful past, even if they did reconcile. It let her become herself and realize she could be the hero. She's one of the best characters in the MCU in my opinion.

I almost cried in the theatre when Nebula started dancing at the end of guardians 3

That *"follow me"* always gives me a smile

"Admin power over the universe" is the best way I've heard holding all six stones described ever lol

She’s one of the best characters

MCU movies (or current superheroe movies in general) tend to be populated by one kind of family relationship only -- parent-child. And that makes sense on some level, because for most of us no one has had a greater impact on us than our parents, and we will never have a greater impact on anyone than on our children. Done well, a parent-child storyline can be fascinating (Tony & Howard Stark, Peter & Ego, Thor/Loki & Odin/Frigga) or it can be the culmination of an important character arc (Tony finally becoming a father, the Guardians collectively becoming parents of Baby Groot, Drax the Destroyer becoming Drax the Dad). Sister relationships tend to get a lot less screentime. Nebula and Gomorra's relationship is so moving and heartbreaking and beautiful. Thank you for this video! I really enjoyed it. ❤

Great video! Wanda can give her a run for her money when it comes to saddest character arc as well.

I was fascinated by Nebula since I was a kid, but I had only had a trading card with her on it for like 25 years

“If you collect all 6 you essentially get ADMIN powers over the universe”. That cracked me up 🤣

She's my favorite MCU character and I'm so sad that we might not see her again in any meaningful capacity.

GOTG 3 made Nebula my favorite MCU character. I liked her okay before, but the third movie truly elevated her.

My favorite Nebula moment is in GoG3 when Kraglin accidentally shoots her with Yondu's arrow. She barely responds when an eyeroll and its a testament to how much she's grown to care about and tolerate her stupid, stupid companions.

I saw Nando speculate that it the script might have originally had Nebula running the gauntlet in End Game during the Girl Boss montage instead of Captain Marvel. It would make sense for her character thematically, to finally have this confrontation on screen. She also wields the gauntlet in the comics too. Plus they did the whole paper football thing at the start of the movie and that scene is quite similar to football when think about it. Having her there right at the end for the final moment with Tony would have meant more given the time they spent together. I would have preferred to see that over Captain Marvel getting smacked with the power stone.

In hindsight I think the one thing I wish the markus & mcfeely had done is write a scene where Tony asks thanos “why not use the stones to make more?” And have thanos just outright say “I prefer the death”

The paper football scene with Nebula and Tony, is I think my fave scene in all the MCU matched with when Killmonger goes back to meet his father during the ritual to become Black Panther. Now excuse me while I go cry for 3 hours (but in a good way?)

"you were the one who wanted to win and I just wanted a sister" is probably my favourite line in the whole MCU ! The 2 other contenders being "I do anything and everything that mister Stark requires... Including, occasionaly, taking out the trash" (Iron man 2) and "I'm in the middle of an interrogation, this moron is giving me everything" [and the look she gives him afterward] (the avengers).

Nebula is one of my favourite MCU characters. I met Karen Gillan in 2015.

Just watched guardians 3, very happy to come back to this video

Nebula is a fascinating and sympathetic character, but also can be highly frustrating to watch. As raw a deal as she got in life, she often made her own situation worse through horrendous decision making and conflicting motives. This made for a complex character (one of the most complex in the MCU), but one that came with a healthy dose of "WHAT THE F$%^, LADY?!?!"

I feel like there was a lot more that occurred in guardians of the galaxy 3 that internally challenges Nebula over the course of that adventure to reflect on life and come to the decision of raising the kids that they rescued.

I had to pause this video after 8 seconds. I'll be back after I rewatch a bit, this is going to be an emotional one.

I thought her arc in Endgame was cut short a bit. She deserved a final confrontation with Thanos, maybe even stealing the gauntlet from him like in the book. I love what James Gunn has done with her since, however. Also Karen Gillan.

I feel like GOTG2 was what really made me love Nebula as a character, and whike the 3rd movie was amazing, the second one will always stand out to me for truly getting me invested in all the character's family dynamic. While I have a great relationship with my older sister, its hard not to see us in Gamora and Nebula's relationship and I always bawl my eyes out every single time I watch GOTG2.

I had a different take on Nebula's reaction at Thanos's execution. I do not think she felt sad because he was the only father she knew. I think she felt sad that he was the only one she knew who claimed to be her father, while never having had behaved as such, and mourning the part of her life that had been wasted trying to impress him.

I can’t feel guilty about skipping through the Nebula ad read because I already have a Nebula subscription.

16:49 This line breaks my heart every time I watch this movie.

In a universe full of whizzes and flash booms it’s pretty unusual to have a character arc carry through this clearly. The writing is great ofc but Karen Gillian really nailed the role and was the hero we really needed in this whole mess. I didn’t catch the reason she wanted to raise the kids on my first viewing so what she did makes a lot more sense now.

Gamora and Nebula’s arc in gotg2 is my favorite in the mcu, it makes me cry bc it’s just so relatable. Gotg2 is the most underrated mcu movie.

She never had an arc, she had layers that we opened every movie, bit by bit realizing that she wasn't who we thought she was.......an arc is a journey that a character takes, learning from their experiences and changing with them A character starts one way, then end in other way because of the experiences they went through, thats an arc.....A character starts one way, then we realize that character wasn't like that to begin with, thats layering Tony and Steve are the best examples of arcs......Nebula and Rocket are the best example of a layered characters, and thats why we love Guardians so much, they are layered characters and every time we meet them we learn something new about them Nebula wasn't redeemed......we never knew the real Nebula, her character was always influenced by others

This just made me wanna watch this whole series again

Nebula taking out her 2014 self was definitely form of ego death.

So happy the algo introduced you to me with this essay. Great job with the execution. Your work is lovely and I'm looking forward to binging your channel!

100% Agree! One of the best MCU arcs.

17:00 I think of it as a mental suicide… this scene gave me the same feelings I got when The Master killed himself as Missy in Doctor Who

Love your show and film breakdowns ❤ Thanks!

I have felt this way about Nebula for a since End Game. Glad to see that there are others out there who agree. Most complete arch in the MCU.

Nebula and Rocket holding hands at the beginning of End Game broke me😢

Dude, this was already a great video. Then you rec'ed Nando. I am officially subscribing to your channel.

I am a super fanboy (of the MCU), so I agree that Nebula’s arc is the best! She went from homicidal maniac bent on killing her adoptive sister, to Gamora’s prisoner, to reluctant ally, Gamora’s baby sister/mourner, to co-Guardian, to family, to residing mother of “Nowhere” aka bonafide hero! The moment in “Guardians 3” when she hears Rocket’s voice and know he’s ok and nearly breaks down in tears is my favorite part of the movie!

I was thinking "surely the best arc will always belong to Jamie Tartt", then realized I was in the wrong universe.

Nebula is by far my favorite female MCU character, because she has the most growth.

Agreed, nice vid bro. I was originally disappointed that post Endgame Nebula wasn't more 'open', but redemption doesn't need to completely change a person's character. At the end of the day she's still Nebula, she didn't need a goofy Thor type change to be fully redeemed.

she is my favorite mcu character. I'm so happy someone is finally talking about her.

Fantastic overview. Nicely put together

Great Analysis T1J !

Great vid. Feels good to think happy on the MCU for a bit.

I would like to see more media and story analysis from you. This is good stuff

I really appreciate this video

ayy T1J. Great video.

I’m still new to the channel, but I’m I’ve ❤ your explanations and basic, easy delivery. I’m a comic fan already but I just can’t help watching others opinion or explanation in case I miss something

Can't believe Nebula said that Rocket had it worse when the fact is thats not true, Rocket's story is sad but Nebula definitely had it worse.

After Gusrdians 3, Nebula is one of my favorite MCU characters. I'm gonna rewatch Endgame now, too. Also, I've seen you in the Dungeon Dudes comments, I personally wouldn't mind hearing some D&D media analysis from you!

I saw guardians 3 almost only for Nebula, and it gave me all I ever wanted 😢

FINALLY I SEE SOMEONE TALK ABOUT THIS

Great video. Nebula had become my favorite MCU character after guardians 2 although personally after G3 I'm drinking the Rocket kool-aid pretty hard. But that all that did was make me love the shot of Rock and Neb quietly holding each others hands in the beginning of Endgame even more. Border lining on thoughts of "this would make a good tattoo". I think they're tied for my favorite characters and arcs now :)

Nebula doesn’t get enough love - I really liked this!

Her's was the biggest, most inspiring arc. Rewatch the movies.

This video was dope.

Josh Brolin was fantastic between cable and Thanos in 2018