Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2: What Do Those Five Post-Credit Sequences Mean?

Heavy, heavy spoilers ahead!

Yes, the rumors are true. There are indeed five post-credits scenes tacked on to the end of Guardians of Galaxy Volume Two, so you'll need to make sure to stay until the very end of the film's credits to see them all. And while some of those scenes are merely fun little vignettes, a few of them hold exciting and potentially significant repercussions for both future Guardians films and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe in general. So what do they all mean?

Kraglin uses the Yaka Arrow

The first post-credits scene is a simple one. It shows Kraglin--Yondu's former second-in-command--playing around with Yondu's whistle controlled Yaka Arrow. He's not very good, however, and he ends up flying the arrow straight into Drax's shoulder, causing the big alien to scream in pain. It's a nice, fun scene, but ultimately, it's there just for laughs as opposed to setting up something for the MCU's future.

Stakar Ogord assembles a team

Stakar Ogord (played by Sylvester Stallone) is shown assembling a team made up of Charlie 27 (Ving Rhames), Aleta Ogord (Michelle Yeoh), Krugarr, and Mainframe (voiced by Miley Cyrus). Within the film, all of these characters were Reavers, but comic book fans also know them as the members of the very first Guardians of the Galaxy team.

In comic lore, Stakar comes from the alternate Earth-691 timeline, and he's an immensely powerful being with superhuman abilities, immortality, and the ability to manipulate light. Aleta, the adoptive sister of Stakar, is as powerful as her brother, and at one time the two were fused together by the Hawk-God into the one being known as Starhawk. Charlie-27 is from the 31st century, and he's descended from humans genetically engineered to be workers on gas platforms in Jupiter. He too has superhuman powers. Krugarr is basically a 22nd century version of Doctor Strange, while Mainframe is an alternate universe version of the android Vision.

So what exactly does the forming of this team mean for the future of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise? And will they play a part in the upcoming Avengers Infinity War? Right now, Marvel is keeping quiet about the path of these alt-Guardians. But using such big name actors surely means there are plans for them outside of the brief cameo in Volume 2, right?

Ayesha creates...Adam Warlock

In Guardians of the Galaxy 2, gold-skinned Ayesha (the leader of a race known as the Sovereign) is seen at the end of the film talking about creating a perfect being, before the camera shows what's clearly a large cocoon, one large enough to fit a person in. Ayesha's final line, "I think I will call him...Adam", is a clear indication that Adam Warlock will become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in future films.

Who exactly is Adam Warlock? Warlock is a perfect human created by a group of scientists known as the Enclave. Originally known as Him, Warlock leaves Earth soon after his "birth," becoming one of the major players in Marvel's cosmic comics. He's been the possessor of one of the Infinity Stones (the Soul Gem, to be specific), has tangled with MCU big bad Thanos on several occasions, and has even been part of the Guardians of the Galaxy team. While it's unlikely that this film version of Warlock will be a player in the upcoming Avengers Infinity War, his appearance at the end of Volume 2 does suggest he'll be a key part of the third Guardians film.

Baby Groot becomes Teenage Groot

This fun little scene takes place in the near (?) future, with dear little Baby Groot now clearly an older, teenage version of himself. Quill stands at Groot's door, and is horrified to see it covered in leaves and bark, while Teenage Groot sits on the bed playing some kind of futuristic video game. Quill, exasperated, says "Now I know what Yondu felt like." Does this mean the third Guardians film will feature a hormonal, continually shedding, angsty Groot?

The Watchers get bored with Stan Lee

This final post-credits scene is actually a continuation of the brief scene we see during Yondu and Rocket's crazy space jumps in the middle of the film. In that scene, we see a group of three Watchers listening intently to Stan Lee as he tells them tales of his many adventures. In the post-credits continuation of this little vignette, the Watchers have clearly had enough, and despite Lee's insistence that they stay and hear more, they all walk away from him.

Who are The Watchers? In Marvel comics, The Watchers are a group of mysterious extraterrestials, whose sole mission is to observe the most significant events occurring in the universe. Basically, if a Watcher is present, then some serious s*** is about to go down. Perhaps the most well-known Watcher (to Marvel comic fans, at least) is Uatu, who has long watched the major events happening on Earth, and who was recently killed by none other than Nick Fury. It's already been confirmed by Marvel, however, that Uatu is not one of the Watchers that we see in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

Stan Lee being seen with Watchers, however, does play into a long debated fan theory about who exactly Stan Lee is within the context of the Marvel movies. Some have speculated that his appearance in cameos in most of the Marvel films actually means that Lee himself is a Watcher in disguise.