We take a careful look at Marvel's first Guardians Of The Galaxy trailer, and find quite a lot to like!
The debut trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy was just full of fun surprises, wasn't it? For starters, many folks may find themselves surprised by the fact that generally C-list Marvel characters like Rocket Raccoon, Peter Quill, and Groot could look this appealing in a big screen adventure. Whether it's the slick, faintly Star Wars-y vibe of the characters and tech on display, or the irressistible groove of Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling," the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer sure feels like a breath of fresh air with many competing blockbusters (and superhero flicks) trying to out-scowl one another. We couldn't help ourselves: we had to take a closer look at this one. Help us spot what we missed!
1. Hey look, it's Korath the Pursuer! Who's that, again? We get our first clear look at Djimon Hounsou's character. Marvel fans, take note: for the first time in movie history, we have seen a live-action representation of the Kree!
2. The Nova Corps. Alright, so the Nova Corps are kind of a bunch of douchebags from the looks of things. It's still pretty cool to see John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey, and Peter Serafinowicz is a nice surprise, too. Since a Nova movie probably isn't that far from Marvel's minds, the stodginess of the Nova Corps on display in Guardians of the Galaxy would be perfect for a character like Richard Rider or Sam Alexander to play off in a future film!
3. This is our clearest look yet at Dave Batista in full Drax the Destroyer makeup. Because he wasn't terrifying enough without all of this, right?
4. Zoe Saldana's Gamora (known in the comics as "The most dangerous woman in the galaxy") has only committed 10 fewer murders than Drax according to her rap sheet.
5. Rocket Raccoon...this kinda speaks for itself, doesn't it? However, Rocket Raccoon's creator, Bill Mantlo, is in poor health and needs some ongoing care. You can read about his difficulties and learn how you can donate right here.
6. Groot: The other side of the "how bizarre is this movie going to be?" equation comes in Groot...who looks like a fairly impressive CGI creation! No word yet on the size of Groot's vocabulary for this. He's generally a tree of few words, and they tend to be rather specific.
7. In case there was any lingering doubt about whether Guardians of the Galaxy takes itself too seriously, this bit should have squared that away for you nicely.
8. If we're lucky, the prison sequence in this film will provide as bizarre a mix of alien races as we saw in Star Wars' famous cantina scene. If there's ever a chance for Marvel Comics scholars to go absolutely berserk spotting their favorite alien races and picking apart the implications of their inclusion, this will probably be the scene.
9. Burn this image into your brain. Here's a raccoon with a laser machine gun riding a sentient tree. Try and wrap your head around that.
10. It's no secret that Chris Pratt didn't mess around about getting into shape for the role of Peter Quill. But...damn, dude. Way to make the dudes of America reevaluate their diet and exercise habits.
11. Our first official look at Nebula, played by Doctor Who's Karen Gillan. Nebula, for those of you who may not know, is the granddaughter of Thanos, the looming baddie who made a memorable post-credits appearance at the end of Avengers. James Gunn hasn't made it a secret that Thanos will appear in some capacity in Guardians of the Galaxy, but the size of his role is unknown at this time.
12. It's not gonna get you an R-rating if the blood isn't red, is it?
13. Our only real look at Benicio Del Toro as The Collector since the post-credits sequence of Thor: The Dark World. This raises the spectre of whether Guardians of the Galaxy will be plagued by the same problem that has faced virtually every Marvel movie that doesn't feature Tom Hiddleston's Loki: are any of these villains going to be enough to carry a movie?
14. Star-Lord's helmet actually looks way cooler in live-action than it does on the comics page.
15. The "usual suspects" shot that has been the centerpiece of virtually the entire Guardians of the Galaxy buzz-building machine suddenly makes a lot more sense when you've seen the rest of this trailer. So, IS Guardians of the Galaxy going to be The Usual Suspects in space? Is Thanos' presence going to loom over this like Keyser Soze? We'll find out on August 1st.
Alright, Marvel scholars....this is where you come in. What else is in here? Is this handsome devil above another Kree? We won't be satisfied until we see as many Kree as possible and someone named Mar-Vell or Noh-Varr get mentioned, but that may be asking too much. Let us know what other fun stuff we've missed, and we'll add 'em here as necessary!
You can read our history of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics right here!
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