When ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy‘ comes out in 2014 you might instantly think it’s a hit. It’s a Marvel comic movie. It is going to bring in the big bad guy from ‘The Avengers’. It’s written and directed by James Gunn (‘Dawn of the Dead’). It has star power galore with Bradley Cooper (‘The Hangover’), Zoe Saldana (‘Star Trek Into Darkness’),  Karen Gillan (‘Doctor Who’), Chris Pratt (‘Wanted’), Lee Pace (‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘), Benicio Del Toro (‘Sin City’), John C. Reilly (‘Wreck-It Ralph ‘), Dave Bautista (‘Riddick’), Michael Rooker (‘The Walking Dead’), Glen Close (‘Mars Attacks!’), Djimon Honsou (‘Seventh Son’), Peter Serafinowicz (‘Shaun of the Dead’), and a voice over by Vin Diesel (‘Riddick’).

It has smash hit written all over it right?

Well that would be wrong.

‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ is one of the black sheep of the Marvel Universe. Anyone interested in the overall galaxy wide story arcs know who they are, but quite a few fans have only heard of them. These aren’t your front runners. They aren’t your ‘Avengers’ or ‘X-Men’ and yet they are getting the full on big screen treatment. What I’m trying to say is that ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ is a gamble. ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ is an extremely expensive gamble.

So with Marvel characters in space, it has to be asked if this is Marvel’s ‘Star Wars’? In an interview with Empire Magazine, Marvel’s chief head honcho, Kevin Feige had this to say:

“We’re not making this to make Marvel’s ‘Star Wars’. We’re doing this to explore the other side of the existing Marvel Universe. The fact that Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a human from our time, that he carries a personal cassette recorder with him, already it’s very different. It’s not a long, time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it’s now in a galaxy far, far away.”

He also indicated that timewise, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ takes place at nearly the same time as the rest of the Marvel movies:

“The general answer is yes. It’s not exactly revealed what year or month it is in relation to the other Phase Two films. But yes, it’s the same time.”

While there is no guarantee we’re going to see the Guardians meet up with he Avengers anytime in the near future, at least we know they are both taking place during Phase 2.

And while Thanos was teased in a post-credit scene in ‘The Avengers’, we already know he won’t be the main villain in that movie’s sequel. Surprisingly, he isn’t the main villain in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy either:

“Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace) is very much the main bad guy. And Thanos is lurking above it all. You will learn more about Thanos in Guardians, for sure. Certainly you’ll get more than the one turn-around-and-smirk. You’ll get much more than that.”

Finally Feige ended the interview explaining who the various characters in the Guardians are. For those unfamiliar with them, this is a good quick synopsis:

“They are an unlikely band. It’s pure circumstance that brings them all together throughout the course of the movie.

  • “Rocket [Raccoon] has been genetically and mechanically altered, he’s an experiment from one part of the galaxy.
  • “Groot is a species that happens to look like trees look, and is quite communicative if you can understand the different inflections in the way he says, ‘I am Groot.’
  • “Peter Quill left Earth in the mid-’80s, but when we meet back up with him he’s very much a citizen of the Universe.
  • “Drax (Dave Bautista) has one goal and one goal only, which is to kill Ronan because of a past tragedy.
  • “When we meet Gamora (Zoe Saldana), she’s a bad guy working with Ronan and Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Korath (Djimon Hounsou), and by extension for Thanos. Gamora doesn’t necessarily like doing that anymore, and tries to find a new path for herself. But she has such a reputation as the deadliest woman in the galaxy that people aren’t greeting her with open arms.”

While not the main character of the bunch, I am quite interested in how much time is focused explaining Gamora away. I also find it interesting that Drax is hard at work wanting to kill Ronan from the past when in the comics, Thanos is his primary target. I’m curious if this will transfer to Thanos at the end of the film?

Are you excited for the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’? Want more Thanos? Sound off below!

Source: Empire Online.