Who Gamora is
Thanos took Gamora from her home world as a child and raised her as a weapon. She grew up as the galaxy's most feared assassin, trained alongside her adoptive sister Nebula in a rivalry Thanos encouraged. When the first Guardians film begins, she is quietly planning to escape him.
That plan puts her in the path of Peter Quill, a talking raccoon and a tree. Gamora is the serious one in a team of misfits, the person who rolls her eyes at Peter's dance moves and then saves his life anyway. Her dry humor and her unease with being part of a family give the Guardians much of their heart.
Gamora's movies in order
- Guardians of the Galaxy (essential)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (recommended)
- Avengers: Infinity War (essential)
- Avengers: Endgame (essential)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (recommended)
Release order matches story order here, and each one is a significant role rather than a cameo.
Turning points, spoiler-careful
In the first film, Gamora betrays her father's plans and learns to trust strangers for the first time. Vol. 2 is where her relationship with Nebula comes into focus, with a brutal fight that finally makes room for honest conversation between the sisters.
Infinity War is, in many ways, her movie as much as Thanos's. It reveals why he cares about her and what he is willing to do for his goal, and those scenes are among the most important in the Infinity Saga. Endgame then uses time travel in a way that changes her place in the story. By Vol. 3, her relationship with the team is very different from what it was, and the film is best watched without knowing more.
The people closest to her
Star-Lord is her love interest, and their back-and-forth is the comic and romantic thread of the Guardians series. Nebula is her sister, enemy and eventually something like a friend. Rocket and Groot are the teammates she grows to protect, and Thanos is the shadow over all of it.
About the actor: Zoe Saldaña
Zoe Saldaña plays Gamora with real physical precision and a guarded warmth that slowly opens up across the films. She makes a green-skinned assassin from space feel human, which is not easy under heavy makeup. She is also famous for playing Neytiri in Avatar and Uhura in the Star Trek reboot films, and she appeared early in her career in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. That gives her an unusual record of leading big science-fiction franchises.
How to watch Gamora's story
Begin with Guardians of the Galaxy, then Vol. 2, then Infinity War and Endgame. Finish with Vol. 3, which closes this version of the team's story. If you are short on time, the first Guardians film plus Infinity War give you her essential arc, although skipping Vol. 2 loses most of the Nebula subplot. When people ask what the Infinity Saga is, Gamora is one of the best answers, because her story sits right at the center of Thanos's plan. Explore more of the team in our full MCU character roster.