Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared in Issue 18 of the popular 1969 comic book Marvel Super-Heroes. Telling the stories of the teams war against the alien race of Badoon. Over the years the heroes have teamed up with such heroes as Captain America and have grown as a cult favourite amongst avid comic book readers. So fast forward to recent years and considering the continued popularity of the superhero genre it was announced during San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2012 by Kevin Feige in 2010 that Guardians of the Galaxy would be made into a live action feature film.
Smartly building off the commercial success of Joss Whedon‘s outstanding Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy is a slightly different breed of super heroes. Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Djimon Hounsou, Glenn Close and also features the voice talents of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.
In the feature adaptation, the story follows Peter Quill as he forms an alliance with a group of misfits who are on the run after stealing a orb coveted by the villainous Ronan.
We have to admit that we haven’t read many of the comics and so far the only exposure we’ve had to it was in last years mid-credit scene in Thor: The Dark World. In this scene Benicio del Toro plays The Collector, a type of god who is trusted to care after the Aether (a dangerous infinity stone) after Thor’s battle with the dark elf Malekith. This scene left many people scratching their heads where as fans of the comic were left smiling knowing very well how big the scope of Guardians of the Galaxy can really get. As for us here at Cinema Chords, we’ve continued to grow curious about Marvel’s strangest collection of heroes yet and now with the first trailer finally available we couldn’t wait to share it with you.
http://youtu.be/pTZ2Tp9yXyM
I hope you’ll agree with us in that the film looks amazing but if you’re wanting to know more about Star Lord, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and Drax the Destroyer ahead of the films release on 1st August 2014 then look no further as we have put this guide together for you.
Chris Pratt is Peter Quill aka Star Lord and can be seen as Marvel’s interpretation of Star Wars very own Han Solo. His origin story has recently been reinvented in the Marvel Now comic series which saw J’son of Sparta crashland on earth close to a house owned by human Meredith Quill. She took it upon herself to nurse him back to health and fell in love him in the process. Together they had a child but J’son had no choice but to leave as his people were still at war. Meredith was left to raise their son and for almost ten years never once told her son the truth about his father until one day when his ship returned. Excited to see its return, Meredith rushed out of the house only to be gunned down by alien assassins seeking to destroy the last of J’son’s bloodline. Young Peter Quill managed to defend himself using his fathers gun and barely escaped. Left an orphan, Peter anger and resentment started to grow. When Peter finally gets to meet his Father as an adult he refuses his heritage in preference of becoming a mercenary taking on one of his father’s aliases Star Lord.
Zoe Saldana is Gamora. Just like the Avenger’s skilled assassin Black Widow, Gamora has an arsenal of intergalactic weapons and is a master at hand to hand combat. After her species was killed off by The Badoon (who also killed Peter Quill’s mother), Gamora was adopted by the evil tyrant Thanos (the main villan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and was trained to become a ruthless assassin until Gamora discovered Thanos’ true intentions at which point she eft to become an independent mercenary.
Bradley Cooper provides the voice of Rocket Raccoon. Don’t let appearances fool you as despite his cute exterior, Rocket is one of the most dangerous characters in the Guardians of the Galaxy. Having several different variations on his origin stories already told in the Marvel Universe, Rocket is generally referred to a science experiment gone awry where scientist gave a raccoon a human level of intelligence. and the desire to kill. He may be best friends with a the living tree Groot but Rocket is a force to be taken seriously.
Vin Diesel provides the voice for Groot. A living tree and like Gamora, Groot is the the last of his kind. He is famous in the comics for saying “I am Groot” and is best friends with Rocket Raccoon. He can absorb other pieces of wood to make himself grow bigger and stronger but he also has the power to control trees. Groot is not just a fighter but an impressive engineer too.
Hoping to follow in the Rock’s footsteps, wrestler Dave Bautista is Drax the Destroyer. Despite his green exterior, Drax was not always an alien as he was once in fact human. On a visit to earth Thanos kills a family in their car believing they might have seen his spaceship. This is when the Titan God Cronos takes the soul of Arthur Douglas and puts it into another body creating Drax the Destroyer whose one mission is to kill Thanos. With enhanced abilities and impressive musculature, Drax can fire energy blasts from his hands and travel at great speeds.
Guardians of the Galaxy will be released across the UK on 1st August 2014.
