Peter Quill, a man of the ’80s, finds himself caught in the middle of a conflict spanning the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe attempting to earn his title of Star-Lord with a team of ex-cons that includes a genetically engineered raccoon (Rocket Raccoon), a sentient alien tree of royal descent (Groot), a human who died and came back a killing machine (Drax the Destroyer), and powerful assassin who vows revenge against her master (Gamora).
Together they bring the fight to Ronan the Accuser for their own varied personal reasons, Nebula and her pirates, and their grandmaster, Thanos.