‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’: The High Evolutionary Is Pure Evil

Editor's Note: The following contains full spoilers for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'The famous Guardians of the Galaxy have tangled with quite a few villains over the years, but none have even been close to as cruel, insane, and ruthless as The High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).

We understand that's a pretty bold claim, since the three major antagonists to the galaxy's favorite music-loving heroes have been no picnic. First, there was the radical Kree Accuser Ronan (Lee Pace), who nearly destroyed an entire planet with the Power Stone. Then came Star-Lord's father Ego (Kurt Russell), a living planet who sought to recreate the cosmos in his own image. Last but not least, Thanos the Mad Titan (Josh Brolin) temporarily succeeded in wiping out half the universe before the Avengers reversed the infamous blip.

It's hard to imagine anybody more vile than Thanos, but the new villain seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a certifiable unredeemable monster. So much so that The High Evolutionary almost feels as if he was plucked straight out of a David Cronenberg horror movie, with his obsession for body modification and creating the perfect organism making him one of the most disturbing villains to ever appear in a Marvel film. His actions against Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and his animal friends, complete callous disregard for his sentient creations, and Chukwudi Iwuji's delightful mustache-twirling make for a Marvel bad guy that will be creating monstrosities in your nightmares.

The High Evolutionary's Treatment of Rocket and His Companions Is Unforgivable

Rocket Raccoon being experimented on by The High Evolutionary — Image via Disney

The first scene we see in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is an infant Rocket just moments before becoming a cyborg. It's a marvelous tone-setter as all we see is The High Evolutionary's hand reach over to Rocket, as the soundtrack elevates to a deafening level, showing that Rocket's origin story will not be a pleasant one.

After Rocket is poked and prodded and suddenly gains sentience and is crudely thrown into a cage, he meets three other modified animals that look like they'd feel right at home in Sid's bedroom from Toy Story. They consist of Lylla (Linda Cardellini), a kind-hearted otter with mechanical arms, Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), a dopey walrus in a wheelchair, and Floor (Mikaela Hoover), an energetic rabbit who's been outfitted with spider legs. Rocket forms a strong bond with his fellow prisoners, while The High Evolutionary trains the raccoon to become a certified genius.

Rocket proves to be a huge help for The High Evolutionary in his quest to create "the perfect society," which he has branded as "Batch 90." Once the mad scientist reaches a breakthrough in his experiments, Rocket takes that to mean that he and his friends will soon be able to leave their cages and go to their new haven on Counter-Earth. Unfortunately, Rocket learns that everything that The High Evolutionary builds is based on a lie, with his cruel creator telling the young raccoon that he would never have an ugly, freakish creature disrupting his perfect society. That being said, The High Evolutionary does recognize Rocket has a brilliant mind that he wants to utilize but has little interest in his companions and demands they're disposed of.

Now seeing The High Evolutionary for the maniacal monster he is, Rocket begins to help his friends escape. As Rocket embraces Lylla for the first time, it looks as though they'll succeed, but an off-screen gunshot proves otherwise. The High Evolutionary is standing in the doorway as he just mercilessly executed Lylla without a second thought, while Rocket and his friends watch in horror. This sends Rocket into a blind rage, pouncing on The High Evolutionary and mauling his face, leaving him permanently scarred. The brutal attack also deafened Rocket, as he didn't even hear the stray gunshots being fired that also leaves Teefs and Floor dead.

The High Evolutionary Commits Genocide Against His Own Creations

Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol-3-The-High-Evolutionary — Image via Marvel Studios

Slaughtering a trio of cute animals is already more than enough to get audience members to hate you, but Rocket's traumatic past represents only the start of The High Evolutionary's monstrous actions in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Desperately needing a way to save Rocket from his mortal wounds, the Guardians of the Galaxy chart a course for The High Evolutionary's base on Counter-Earth — the so-called perfect society that Rocket indirectly helped his creator develop. There they find a blossoming society that is nearly identical to Earth, the key differences being the humanoid animal inhabitants who worship The High Evolutionary as a god. When Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Groot (Vin Diesel) finally come face-to-face with the world's leader, they learn that The High Evolutionary based his would-be utopia on Earth, hoping this would be everything he always dreamed of.

However, much like Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, The High Evolutionary is disappointed by his hard work. Perhaps he made Counter-Earth a bit too similar to its namesake, with his once-coveted Batch 90 inheriting all the human flaws of the humanoids their based on. He feels this requires a solution and somehow concludes that the only thing he can do is blow up the planet and start over. In what could very well be the most graphic and stunning act of genocide ever to be seen in a MCU film, Counter-Earth is destroyed along with all its residents. The animal humanoid people of Counter Earth, which included thousands if not millions of children, are powerless to stop the destruction of their world. The only thoughts going through their head are ones of sheer confusion and absolute horror.

Rocket's backstory seemed to indicate that Batch 90 and Counter-Earth were The High Evolutionary's ultimate goal, but once he succeeds in that goal, he tosses it aside as if it were nothing. Sure, Thanos likely killed many more people, but at least he had the reasoning that what he was doing would save the universe and conserve its resources. The High Evolutionary just extinguishes what could be over a billion sentient beings because he found it imperfect, tossing it away like a child would with a toy they grew bored with. Even worse, remember that this is Batch 90, meaning that the madman has potentially done this exact act of mass murder 89 times before. It takes a special kind of cruel individual to commit the act once, but dozens of times makes for a truly irredeemable monster.

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