In honor of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which opens on Friday May 5^th, here is a look at the journey of Nebula.

MASSIVE SPOILERS

Out of all of the Guardians, Nebula is the one who has had the most growth and evolution throughout the MCU. Nebula started out as a villain. Nebula, along with her sister Gamora (Zoe Saldana) work for Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). Ronan searches for the Orb for Thanos (Josh Brolin) who is Nebula and Gamora’s father. Gamora is Thanos’ favorite daughter and Nebula has dealt with that her whole life. Eventually Gamora teams up with the Guardians against Ronan while Nebula stays with Ronan. By the end of the first movie, Nebula goes on her own path.

In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Nebula reveals to Gamora after trying to kill each other that all Nebula ever wanted was a sister. That was one of the most shocking reveals in the movie. Nebula and Gamora start to bond, and they unite along with the Guardians to stop Ego (Kurt Russell) a powerful celestial from destroying the galaxy. After they successfully defeat Ego, Nebula heads off on a mission to kill Thanos.

In Avengers: Infinity War Thanos reveals that Nebula stowed away on his ship and has been holding her captive ever since. Thanos has been torturing Nebula and he continues to do so until Gamora reveals the location of the Soul Stone. After Thanos and Gamora leave, Nebula escapes and calls Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to inform her where Thanos will be heading. Nebula joins Mantis, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) on Titan to fight Thanos. Nebula realizes that Thanos killed Gamora when she sees that Thanos has the Soul Stone. Thanos gets the Time Stone from Doctor Strange and then heads to Wakanda to get the Mind Stone. After Thanos succeeds in wiping out half of the universe Nebula and Iron Man are the only ones left on Titan.

In Avengers: Endgame Nebula and Iron Man are stranded in space until Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) finds and rescues them. Nebula and Iron Man are brought to Earth where Nebula reunites with Rocket (Bradley Cooper). Nebula and Rocket are the only Guardians remaining after everyone else had been blipped out of existence. Nebula and Rocket go with the remaining Avengers to find Thanos in hopes to undo the events of Infinity War. After Thanos succeeded, the Infinity Stones were destroyed. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) kills Thanos and Nebula and Rocket head back to space. Five years later Nebula and Rocket return to Earth to meet with the remaining Avengers. There is a plan for a time heist to collect the Infinity Stones before Thanos got them and to use them to bring everyone back. Nebula goes with Rhodey (Don Cheadle) to retrieve the Power Stone in 2014. After retrieving the stone, Nebula is kidnapped by Thanos from 2014. There, she sees Gamora from 2014 as well as the 2014 version of herself. Nebula reveals to Gamora that in the future, their dynamic changes and they become more like sisters. After Thanos heads to Earth to attack the Avengers compound, Nebula kills 2014 Nebula who took the gauntlet from Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). Nebula and Gamora team up with the other Avengers to fight Thanos and his army.

In Thor: Love & Thunder Nebula and the Guardians part ways with Thor who goes off on his own adventure.

In the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Nebula celebrates her first Christmas with the other Guardians after Drax and Mantis kidnap Kevin Bacon as a Christmas gift for Star-Lord.

How will Nebula’s story end in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? I think Nebula has a good chance of having a future beyond Vol. 3. It was said that this is the final movie with this iteration of the team. Depending how Vol. 3 plays out there could be a lot more story opportunities for Nebula in the future. Realistically, I would be shocked if Nebula was killed off. She has been through so much as has all of the Guardians, but she has also had the most growth and character evolution. She really has come a long way since audiences first met her in the first movie. I am most excited to see what the new dynamic between Nebula and Gamora will be. I think there can be a future for Nebula in the MCU and hopefully we will get to see more of her beyond Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.