Does Guardians of the Galaxy reframe the narrative of all Marvel movies?

I don't often write about movies. This is not because I am not a film enthusiast - on the contrary. There are few pleasures I enjoy more than sitting down and enjoying a good work of cinematography. However, very few movies elicit a response from me worth sharing. When I first saw The Avengers, I had one such response. I wrote that I was impressed by how the movie managed to weave together the narratives of different characters into a singular point of narrative convergence, only to let each character go his or her own way, only to have their narratives converge at a later date. I thought it was a masterful implementation of cinema storytelling. Today, I saw a movie that prompted from me a similar response. That movie was, of all things, Guardians of the Galaxy.

Some Incoherent Thoughts about Open Worlds (and Skyrim)

Note: This is a sister piece to a short rant on Lightning Returns that I will be posting on Pop Trends.

I still remember the first time I played a well crafted open world game. It was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC). I created my character, followed the soldier up the stairs and into the office to get documents stamped by the Imperial authorities. They sent me on a mission to deliver something – I can’t recall what – to a city called Balmora. Once I completed my mission, I was free. That’s what the NPC said. It was something along the lines of “you can now do whatever you want”. And so, I did.