It's been one of the worst-kept secrets in the business, but Marvel today confirmed Guardians of The Galaxy as their August 2014 movie. Marvel overlord Kevin Feige wasted no time in unveiling the cosmic superteam just minutes into the studio’s Hall H preview panel at the San Diego Comic-Con.
He did so with a slide showing the Guardians' leader, Rocket Raccoon, and then went on to confirm that the relatively little-known comic would be the next to get the big-screen treatment. In a bold move, considering that the film is two years out, Feige also confirmed the line-up of the team:
Gamora, the adopted daughter of Thanos.
Drax The Destroyer, an incredibly powerful alien whose sole purpose in life is to destroy Thanos.
Groot, a super-smart living plant who can regenerate himself even when reduced to something as small as a branch.
Rocket Racoon, the leader of the Guardians, a talking, bipedal space raccoon who is also an expert marksman.
Star-Lord, a former Earth astronaut called Peter Quill who becomes a super-powered galactic cop. Shades of Green Lantern, but without the magical power ring. He forms the new Guardians.
All very intriguing, even if there’s a slim chance that Graham Chapman’s Monty Python major could show up and bellow, “Now stop that, this is silly.”
But one man’s silly is another man’s bold, and there’s no doubt that Marvel is taking a risk with this. The relaunch of Guardians Of The Galaxy, on which the film will be based, was cancelled in 2010, after just 25 issues. But there’s method to their apparent madness: as you can see, at least two members of the team have grudges against Thanos, the big bad introduced at the end of The Avengers.
Conventional wisdom indicated that Thanos would be set aside as the Big Bad for either Thor 2 or** The Avengers 2**, but it’s hard to see anyone but Thanos taking the villain role in Guardians Of The Galaxy. Certainly, there’s no doubt that the movie will be the most fantastical Marvel movie yet, which may explain why Feige has gone so early with the announcement, to prep audiences for a movie that a) has a title few will know and b) has a talking raccoon as a major character. But a talking raccoon with a gun. Big difference.
Marvel have already unveiled concept art. As of yet, there’s no word on plot, cast, or director, but to us this seems like a deliberate attempt to further broaden the scale and scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this one, that’s for sure.