It looks like the Marvel multiverse is spilling out into more than just the MCU. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has confirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, an all-new attraction bringing Marvel’s astral heroes to Walt Disney World, will not be a part of the traditional Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking place in a different universe and allowing Disney Parks guests to enter a whole new world of action and adventure.
Gunn showed off an all-new promotional poster for the ride on November 20, which will be coming to EPCOT in 2022 as the first part of a planned Wonders of Xandar pavilion. The candy-colored, retro-looking poster gave fans their first look at the attraction, the first at Walt Disney World to feature Marvel characters, including a peek at some celestial-inspired ride vehicles and a backdrop featuring EPCOT’s iconic Spaceship Earth.
However, a number of aspects of the poster also left fans with questions. Why is Groot an adult again? How has Gamora returned to the Guardians? And perhaps, most importantly: why is Drax wearing a shirt? None of these seemingly mundane aspects comply with the Guardians’ current timeline in the MCU, where Groot is still a teenager and Gamora, unfortunately, met her end in Avengers: Infinity War.
Gunn took to Twitter to answer a number of fan concerns — including noting that Drax’s shirt is “lined with fine orloni leather and feels quite pleasant and unrestrictive" — and confirmed that Cosmic Rewind will indeed take place outside of the MCU, meaning that the attraction will not be constricted to the current goings-on of the Marvel films' timeline. According to the director, the attraction takes place “in its own universe”, and will exist as “its own thing” at EPCOT, where it replaces the much-missed Ellen’s Energy Adventure.
This isn’t exactly a surprise, what with the introduction of the multiverse to the MCU arriving this year, and isn’t the first time Marvel has disregarded its own Sacred Timeline in regards to the Disney Parks. Avengers Campus, a themed land located in Disney California Adventure, already operates with the “Marvel Theme Park Universe," a branch of the multiverse in which the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame did not occur, and multiple characters interact in ways that would not be possible in the MCU.
And with a number of Marvel heroes existing in their comics iterations over at Universal’s Islands of Adventure — who owns the rights to a number of Marvel characters in theme parks east of the Mississippi River — restraining the Guardians to the MCU storyline seems more restrictive than useful. The multiverse offers (literally) endless options for these much beloved characters as far as adventures go, and with new attractions popping up on Disney property seemingly every other week, why put a limit on possibilities?
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is set to open at Walt Disney World’s EPCOT in the summer of 2022. Check out Gunn’s tweets about the ride below.