When Marvel shed some more light on their upcoming movies at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego, one project in particular caught the eye: Guardians of the Galaxy.
The Guardians are another of Marvel’s superhero teams, appearing in several comics over the years. The team made its debut in 1969, featuring in issue #18 of the reprint title Marvel Super-Heroes, written by Arnold Drake and penciled by Gene Colan.
The original Guardians lineup included the time-travelling 20th century earthling and astronaut Major Vance Astro; Captain Charlie-27 – a soldier from Jupiter; Yondu Udonta, a Beta Centauri IV noble savage; and Martinex T’Naga.
Kicking ass and saving lives on Earth-691, the Guardians operate in an alternate time-line of the Marvel Universe in the 31st century. A prospective Guardians of the Galaxy movie will have to contend with the difficulties of translating their settings to the big screen, incorporating a fair share of space travel.
The Hollywood Reporter states:
“While there have been several incarnations of the team in the comics over the years, the movie’s lineup will include Drax the Destroyer, a human resurrected as a green warrior with the sole purpose of killing Thanos (the villain in the Avengers final-scene tease); Groot, a giant tree-man; Star-Lord, a gun-toting half-human/half-alien intergalactic vigilante; Rocket Raccoon, a genetically engineered animal with a knack for guns and explosives; and Gamora, the last survivor of her species who was saved by Thanos to be his assassin but now battles him.”
Although Marvel writing programme graduate and scribe Nicole Perlman is said to have penned a draft script for the movie, Chris McCoy — a writer with not one or two, but three scripts on the Hollywood Black List (a selection of the best unproduced film scripts) — has been put in charge of the superhero flick’s writing duties.
Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled to be released on 1 August 2014, ushering in Phase 2 of Marvel’s grand comic book movie scheme.
