When the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” came out, no one knew what to expect. People thought Marvel had lost their minds, making a movie out of an obscure comic series. Little did we know that “Guardians of the Galaxy” would not only be a breath of fresh air from the superhero genre, but possibly Marvel’s funniest movie. After it blew up, there were no doubts that there would be a sequel, and after almost three years, the sequel is finally here.

But does it hold up? Does it manage to capture the comedy and feeling that made the first movie so special? Since the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” is one of my top-five favorite movies of all time, I was pretty skeptical about this new movie.

One of the things that made the first movie so fresh and unique was that it seemed to make fun of itself while also giving us a heartfelt story. I was worried that with the massive popularity of the original movie, the new one would lose that sort of meta-humor. But I can safely say that I was wrong.

This movie, while not as good as the first, serves as a heartfelt sequel that one can tell was handled with a lot of care because the original is so special to many people.

One thing I love about this series is how separate it is from the rest of the Marvel Universe, and that continues in this new movie. This creates its own little series that, in the grand scheme of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, someone can watch without having seen any of the other Marvel movies.

The comedy that worked so well in the first movie also works really well in the second. I found myself laughing out loud and flashing back to watching the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” back in 2014. As with this new installment, I went in expecting very little and came out wanting to watch it again and again.

The story of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” introduces new characters and also builds on characters we didn’t get a lot of time to know in the first movie, such as Yondu and Rocket Raccoon. The movie builds on these relationships, but it doesn’t feel too cluttered, like other superhero movies released recently, such as “Batman v. Superman” and “Suicide Squad.”

Fans of the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” movie will probably like volume 2. The humor, heart, and uniqueness of the first movie definitely carry over. Though it may not be a game-changer like the first one, it certainly adds to the series. The second film complements the first, which is all we could have asked from it.