The Guardians of the Galaxy trailer is here!
Yesterday I gave you a heads up that the trailer for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie was going to be premiering on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and sure enough Marvel delivered in a big way. Now fans of the Guardians have known for a while that this rag-tag bunch of heroes would be perfect movie fodder, so if you saw one of your friends making this face…
OH MY GOD!
Then it’s a safe bet that they’re one of the many Guardians of the Galaxy fans that have been anxiously awaiting the trailer.
Before we go any further, take a quick minute to watch the trailer. It’ll be embedded right at the top of the page. Go watch it. I’ll wait here for you.
Pretty krutacking amazing wasn’t it?
So now that you’ve seen the trailer, let’s take a minute to introduce you to the team. First up, Star-Lord:
“I’m Star-Lord man. Legendary outlaw?”
Peter Jason Quill, aka Star-Lord. The leader of the Guardians, and kind of an ass, but in a lovable way. Peter’s been around for quite some time, dating back to the 70s when he was introduced as a half-human, half-spartax intergalactic space cop. However, back in 2007 he was reintroduced as one of the heroes of Marvel’s Annihilation event fighting to save the galaxy first from Annihilus, and then the Kree homeworld from the Phalanx. Following these events Quill took it upon himself to form a team to attempt to prevent future galaxy-destroying events, and founded The Guardians of the Galaxy. This led to a 25 issue run starting in 2008 that not only introduced us to the modern version of the Guardians (I’ll come back to this in a moment), but also gave us some of the best “cosmic” stories Marvel has ever crafted. Following the miniseries “The Thanos Imperative”, the Guardians were shelved by Marvel, with the team scattered to various other publications. However, following the announcement of the film, Marvel has brought back the Guardians with a brand new series that is currently on issue #12 (see also: All-New X-Men for the current crossover event “The Trial of Jean Grey”).
Next up, Drax the Destroyer:
“You always ask so many d’ast questions?”
Drax here, like Quill, is also originally a 70s era creation. However Drax didn’t always start out so… green. Originally Drax was a normal human by the name Arthur Douglas, however when the mad titan Thanos launched an attack on the earth, Arthur and his wife were killed with their daughter presumed dead (she’d later grow up to become the Avenger Moondragon). Arthur’s story didn’t end that fateful night. He was resurrected into a genetically engineered body and was programmed with one singular goal: kill Thanos. Over the years Drax has come close to killing his intended prey, in fact during the Thanos Imperative he even managed to succeed for a brief moment before the wacky rules of the cancerverse kicked in and brought Thanos back to life. Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige has stated that the Drax we’re going to be meeting in the film is going to have his rage set on Ronan (the film’s big bad) who in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be an agent of Thanos alongside Karen Gillan’s Nebula.
What’s that? You didn’t know Karen Gillan is playing Nebula? You better take another look at the trailer, and try not to blink this time or you’ll end up missing this:
Oh snap!
Getting back to the Guardians, here’s our first good look at Gamora:
“Yaaay. Go, team”
Gamora is known as “The Most Dangerous Woman in the Universe”, and with good reason. As the last surviving member of her race, she was plucked from the ashes of her world by none other than Thanos. But because Thanos isn’t really the cuddly type, Gamora spent her entire life training as an assassin with the sole purpose of killing Adam Warlock’s alter-ego Magus. Eventually, after some time-line shenanigans, and a lot of violence, Gamora came to realize just how evil her adoptive father was and became something of a hero, assisting the Avengers in their battle against Thanos. Gamora later appeared during the Annihilation event alongside Drax where they worked with Star-Lord to save the universe. So when Star-Lord asked her to join his new team, she was one of the first to sign up (well, after Richard Rider talked her into it).
Next up on the roster is Groot:
“I AM GROOT”
I’d like to introduce you to His Divine Majesty King Groot the 23rd, Monarch of Planet X, Custodian of the branch worlds, Ruler of all the shades, Flora colossus. Yes, he is a big tree, and yes all he says is “I am Groot”, and yes he is one of the main reasons that a lot of people thought that the Guardians could never be made into a film. Groot first graced the pages of Marvel comics way back in 1960 with an appearance in Tales to Astonish where he was seemingly defeated by termites. A few years later a copy of Groot attacked The Hulk, and was easily defeated. It wasn’t until 2005 that Groot really got a chance to shine as a member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos: A supernatural espionage squad that S.H.I.E.L.D. created (and also an excuse by Marvel to drag out some of their lesser known supernatural properties). Of course this is the story of The Guardians of the Galaxy, and following the events of Annihilation, Groot was recruited by Star-Lord to join his new team. Now one of the most confusing things about Groot is the story of his dialogue. For a long time most readers assumed that he was only capable of saying “I am Groot”, and to an extent they were right. However during the War of Kings crossover event, Maximus the Mad from the Inhumans revealed to readers that Groot was actually saying quite a bit, but because his vocal cords were so thick all most people can understand is “I am Groot”. It turns out that not only is Groot a powerhouse, capable of regrowing himself from a sliver, but he’s also a genius, capable of complex calculations that would make Tony Stark’s head spin. If I have one complaint about the trailer is that we didn’t get a chance to hear Vin Diesel vocalize Groot.
Last, but certainly not least we have Rocket Raccoon:
“BLAM! MURDERED YOU!”
Sure he’s small, and yes he does look like a raccoon, but make no mistake, Rocket is definitely not your ordinary woodland creature. Believe it or not, Rocket is a tactical genius, a skilled pilot, and exceptional marksman. He also has an affinity for really big guns. Much like the rest of the team, Rocket dates back to the 70s where he was featured in a couple of one-shots before eventually getting his own limited series in 1985. After that we didn’t see much of Rocket until the Annihilation event when he was recruited alongside Groot to fight the Phalanx and Ultron. Getting back to Rocket’s origin: Well, as he repeatedly states, his name may be Rocket Raccoon, but he isn’t actually a raccoon. Rocket was originally created to be the head of security for Halfworld, an intergalactic insane asylum that was locked away in an sector of the galaxy that nobody could enter. Rocket and his pals were created to be the guardians/caretakers of the inmates, because fuzzy woodland creatures were much more soothing than normal humanoids. Eventually Rocket took off on his own, and the rest is history. I mentioned earlier the one complaint I had about the trailer was not hearing Groot. We better make that two complaints because I can’t wait to hear Bradley Cooper shout out Rocket’s somewhat controversial battle-cry.
So those are the Guardians. But wait Rob! You said something about this not being the original team of Guardians? You’re absolutely correct. With the 2008 relaunch of the Guardians title, the team didn’t actually have a name, although “Rocket Raccoon and his Human Hangers-on”, “Ass-kickers of the Fantastic” and “Groot and Branches” were all tossed about. It wasn’t until the second issue when the team discovered Major Victory trapped in limbo ice holding on to Captain America’s shield. You see, back in 1969 Marvel introduced a team of heroes from the 31st century. This team featured a rotating group of heroes, and even had an extremely successful run in the early 90s, that culminated in a team-up with the Avengers to defeat Michal Korvac (a story arc that would eventually be adapted to the Avengers Assemble animated series). Now the discovery of Major Victory not only resulted in the Guardians adopting the name of the original team, but also tied them together with Major Victory joining the team. Fans of the original Guardians should take note: while Major Victory isn’t going to be appearing in the film, original Guardian Yondu will be making an appearance, although in what capacity we don’t know. The trailer only revealed a small hint of his presence, listing him as a known associate of Peter Quill.
“Illegal Manipulation of Gramosian Duchess”
So what else have we learned from the trailer? Well for starters, the Nova Corps. are in full force with John C. Reilly appearing as Rhomann Dey..
“What a bunch of a-holes”
We also learned that not everybody knows who the Guardians of the Galaxy are. Well, not yet anyway.
There’s still a lot to be revealed. In addition to Michael Rooker’s Yondu, we still haven’t seen Glenn Close as Nova Prime, nor have we seen Lee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser. Benicio del Toro as The Collector was briefly seen in a short scene following the credits of Thor 2, and we do see him for a split second in the trailer, but the extent of his role is still unknown.
In the end what we do know now is that director James Gunn has seemingly done the impossible; Take a group of cosmic misfits from a relatively unknown Marvel property and turn them into one of the most anticipated films of the year.
August 1st can’t get here soon enough.
Be tuned to G33KPR0N for more Guardians of the Galaxy coverage, and let us know what you thought of the trailer in the comments below!
