Connection with the previous post (BLADE RUNNER: 2049): Dave Bautista co-starred in both films.
RATINGS: IMDB ― 8.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 91%, ME ― 90%
Peter Quill: I have a plan.
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Vin Diesel as Groot
Trivia (From IMDB):
Chris Pratt apparently stole his Star-Lord costume from the set, for the sole purpose of having it available so he could show up in costume to visit sick children in the hospital, who might want to meet Star-Lord.
When Dave Bautista found out he got the role of Drax the Destroyer, he broke down in tears, overjoyed at getting a Marvel comic book role. He prepared for the role with an acting coach.
Vin Diesel recorded all his lines in several different languages, including Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French, so that they could use his real voice in the film around the world.
James Gunn stated that Chris Pratt's audition was so good, he was prepared to offer him the role, even if Pratt did not lose weight, or get in shape in time. Gunn joked that he was willing to CGI a six-pack on Pratt's body. However, Pratt asked Gunn to give him six months to lose fifty pounds, and he ended up losing sixty.
The soundtrack album "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the first film soundtrack ever to do so without any original music. It was also nominated for the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack.
According to Vin Diesel, his performance as Groot helped him through a dark time in his life. He was dealing with the loss of his best friend and "Fast and Furious" co-star Paul Walker: "It was the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does, was very nice."
According to Vin Diesel, the voice of Groot, he recorded Groot's iconic line, "I am Groot", over one thousand times.
The scene where Peter drops the orb during the Collector scene was not scripted. According to the commentary, Chris Pratt accidentally dropped it during filming, but remained in character through the whole thing, so it stayed in the final film.
Bradley Cooper told Howard Stern that he was paid more for voicing Rocket in this movie, than for starring in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Hangover (2009) combined.
Zoe Saldana nearly broke Chris Pratt's ribs while filming a fight sequence. During training, Pratt and Saldana would wear protective gear so they could actually hit each other. However, when the day came to film the scene, Pratt forgot to wear his protective gear and did not tell Saldana, because he thought she would hold back if she knew. Saldana (under the impression he was wearing the gear like he usually did) kicked him square in the ribs, which made Pratt fall to the ground. According to Pratt, he had a bruise for the remainder of filming.
Chris Pratt cites heroes Han Solo and Marty McFly as influences on his performance as Star-Lord.
According to James Gunn, Star-Lord's obscene gesture was an improvisation by Chris Pratt.
Star-Lord's line, "If I had a blacklight, this place would look like a Jackson Pollockpainting," was ad-libbed by Chris Pratt.
James Gunn has confirmed, via Twitter, that Peter Quill's ship in the film is named The Milano after Alyssa Milano, Peter Quill's childhood crush.
James Gunn didn't want to see Chris Pratt auditioning. He was convinced later, by his assistant, at the end of the auditions. After Pratt read for thirty seconds, Gunn stated that he knew Pratt was perfect for the role.
Prior to release, Bill Mantlo, the comic book writer who created Rocket Raccoon, and has been permanently hospitalized, due to the severity of a crippling traffic accident in 1992, was granted a private screening by Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Pictures. According to his brother, Michael Mantlo, Bill was pleased with the adaptation (which credits him by name as the character's creator) and considered the occasion a happy day for him and his family.
The cassette player used by Peter Quill was the Sony TPS-L2. It was the first personal cassette player released in 1979. It was originally called the "Soundabout", then changed to "Walkman".
It took the Make-up Artists five hours daily to do make-up, and apply eighteen prosthetic tattoo pieces onto Dave Bautista. Chris Pratt revealed that during the process, Bautista stood the entire time, with hands holding onto rails which had tennis balls on them, with no complaints whatsoever. Eventually, the process was narrowed down to an average of three hours, while ninety minutes were required to remove the make-up.
When arrested, Rocket's attributes list his known associates: Groot and Lylla. Lady Lylla is a Sentient Otter and soulmate to Rocket in the Marvel Universe.
James Gunn would keep a pile of little Play-Doh containers on-set. If someone did an especially amazing job that day, whether it was an actor, a grip, a stuntman, or a personal assistant, he or she would get a canister of Play-Doh. Gunn says he gave out forty containers over the entire shoot, on an eighty-five-day shoot, with a crew of two hundred: "I love the smell of Play-Doh. Opening a new container and smelling it, puts me in a creative, child-like place, and who doesn't love playing with Play-Doh?"
Zoe Saldana wanted to portray Gamora through make-up, rather than computer graphics imagery, or performance capture.
Drax's comment about Groot's ability to release "fireflies", "When did you learn to do that?" is an inside joke, as Groot has never shown this ability in the comic books.
The opening cave scene was originally written around Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling", but James Gunn felt Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" worked far better.
After filming finished, James Gunn gave Dave Bautista a Drax lunchbox to add to his collection of vintage lunchboxes. Meanwhile, Bautista gave Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldanasome custom WWE Championship belts.
Iron Man was planned to have a cameo role in this film (in an homage to his being the Guardians' latest member in the comics around 2013), but this was scrapped when Robert Downey, Jr. said he may not reprise his role as Tony Stark in the future. Downey has since signed a contract to reprise the role for two "Avengers" sequels.
In the comics, Drax is green. However, for the film, his color was changed to a muddier grey, partly because the movie already had a bright-green character (Gamora), but mostly to distinguish his appearance from the Hulk.
Stan Lee's cameo was originally going to feature him as one of the Collector's boxed trophies, giving Groot the middle finger. Disney executives didn't like this, and had James Gunn change it to Lee being an alien Casanova.
Vin Diesel loved his character, Groot, so much, he would go to promotions and premieres wearing the stilts he wore for the movie and a shirt proclaiming "I Am Groot".
Chris Pratt went on a very strict training regimen and diet for six months, and dropped sixty pounds, eventually getting a six-pack for his shirtless scenes. He said it was a lot of hard work, almost "torturous", but when he was filming his shirtless scenes, and saw the playback on the monitor, he felt the effort was well worth it, and was "extremely excited to see the best possible physical version of himself".
Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista spent two and a half months training and rehearsing for their fight scene. On the Friday night before the Monday that they were scheduled to film the scene, James Gunn decided that the fight wouldn't work on-camera, so he scrapped the entire sequence, for which they had been practicing. Gunn also decided he wanted the entire fight to be filmed in one long shot, with no cuts. As a result, Pratt and Bautista only had a few hours to learn the choreography for the fight sequence, which is in the movie. According to Bautista, it took them twenty-two takes to get it right on film.
The Collector's residence in the film is the space station Knowhere. In the comics, Knowhere is the base of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Benicio Del Toro's uncredited cameo as The Collector in Thor: The Dark World (2013) was written to set the stage for this film.
According to James Gunn, the film's soundtrack is composed mainly of 1970s and 1980s songs, as they are part of Quill's memories of Earth: "The music is one of those touchstones we have to remind us that Quill is a real person from planet Earth who's just like you and me, except that he's in this big outer space adventure."
According to the filmmakers, Rocket Raccoon in this film is a unique product of experimentation: "He's a little animal who was taken and experimented on and pulled apart and put back together again and implanted with cybernetics and he's half-machine and half-raccoon, and he's a gnarled, miserable, angry creature because there's nothing else like him, and that's something not easy to be."
At one point, Quill calls Rocket "Ranger Rick", a reference to the long-running children's nature magazine which features a cartoon raccoon with that name.
Bradley Cooper cited Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas (1990)) as an influence on Rocket Racoon's voice.
Josh Brolin is uncredited, and in fact was the last person cast. He was offered the role while filming Everest (2015). He based the characterization of Thanos primarily on Marlon Brando's role of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979).
Djimon Hounsou took the role of Korath for the sake of his son: "I have a son who loves superheroes from Spider-Man to Iron Man to Batman. One day he looks at me and says 'Dad, I want to be light-skinned so I could be Spider-Man. Spider-Man has light skin.' That was sort of a shock." In recent years, in the Marvel Ultimates comic book universe, the Spider-Man mantle has been held by Miles Morales, a half-black, half-Hispanic teenager.
When Vin Diesel started recording his lines for Groot, he was pleasantly surprised to find himself working with an old friend, Doc Kane, the sound technician he'd worked with on The Iron Giant (1999).
Chris Pratt thought it was extremely important "to have the physicality of a comic book hero" to play Star-Lord. Growing up, he had "always been fascinated with the anatomy of comic book heroes" and he would always draw them as very "cut and ripped", and felt he had to appear similar, in order to do the role justice.
James Gunn reasoned that the usage of songs from the 1970s would help grounding to reality and providing fun juxtaposition. In an interview, he revealed he had compiled a list of hit songs which appear in the Billboard charts during this time, and narrowed it down to one hundred twenty to be considered for use in the film. It helped Gunn entirely throughout production, as some scenes were either filmed around the music as it played in the background, or it served as inspiration for him to write a scene around the track.
Yondu's primary weapon is a sentient arrow. In the comics, Yondu was an archer.
Rocket Raccoon was modelled on a raccoon named Oreo living in the UK.
Primarily based on the 2008 comic team (Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot), but features Yondu, a member of the original 1969 comic team, as an ally.
Benicio Del Toro described the Collector as "Liberace in outer space."
When we first see Bereet (Melia Kreiling) aboard the Milano, she is wearing the t-shirt young Peter (Wyatt Oleff) was wearing when he was abducted from Terra (Earth).
James Gunn's brother Sean Gunn, who did the on-set acting for Rocket, improvised the line "A bunch of jackasses standing in a circle."
In Dutch, Afrikaans, and Flemish, "Groot" means "big." "I am Groot" would therefore mean "I am big".
In the movie, Yondu is portrayed as a villainous mercenary. However, in the comics, Yondu is of a tribal warrior race.
Vin Diesel recorded his lines wearing stilts, so he could get a sense of how large Groot actually is.
When the Guardians are negotiating with the Collector, and the holograms of the Infinity Stone's sisters are shown, both the Aether from "Thor: The Dark World" and the Tesseract from "The Avengers" movies can be seen.
"Cherry Bomb" was actually played on set as the characters made their epic entrance before the final battle, to help them get into character. Tyler Bates composed the original score before the filming process began so it could be played on set to help the actors' performance in certain scenes. "Cherry Bomb" is also the name of the band from Howard the Duck (1986). Howard appears in the end-of-credits scene, and was the first movie based off of a Marvel comic.
The sales of Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling" shot up by seven hundred percent after the release of the film's first trailer, which prominently featured the song.
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Thanos almost got cut from the movie, but James Gunn decided to keep him for a connection to The Avengers (2012).
Alexandra Byrne was flustered when measuring Djimon Hounsou for his outfit. She stated that he was so perfectly built, she could put a beanbag on him and he'd make it look good.
The film has even generated renewed interest in and demand for personal cassette players, especially classic Walkmans, like Peter's.
Features the first on-screen appearance of a Celestial's severed head. The Celestials are an ancient race of godlike beings who watch over and change the universe for both good and evil.
The Avengers (2012) director Joss Whedon, who signed a deal to creatively consult on all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, was enthusiastic about the selection of James Gunn to direct.
To prepare for the role of Nebula, Karen Gillan shaved her head.
Chris Pratt said that a shirtless "selfie" of himself taken during the filming of Zero Dark Thirty (2012) won him the role of Star-Lord in this film. On a chat show on which he appeared, he had released a photo of himself in his underwear, flexing and showing off an excessively ripped and muscular body. It was this photo that convinced the producers of this film that he could actually get in shape and play a superhero. During final meetings, they brought out the picture of him, and asked him if he could get back that physique. He promised them he could, and he actually surpassed it with an even more rigorous six-month training schedule.
The dog, which appears in the hologram Quill projects over the ruins on Morag, is James Gunn's own dog, Wesley Von Spears.
Djimon Hounsou found his costume and make-up as Korath very uncomfortable and rigid. He channelled this discomfort into his action sequences.
According to James Gunn, Star-Lord's ship the Milano is based on a hot rod: "Its environment is reminiscent of Earth, and has a tangible quality, mechanical with chrome and leather, and a muscle-car look."
James Gunn compared the Avengers and the Guardians to music bands: "The Avengers are like The Beatles, but the Guardians are like The Rolling Stones!"
In the film, Ronan the Accuser is an Admiral serving under Thanos. This combines his classic Marvel comics portrayal (a top-ranking Military Governor) with his Marvel Ultimate comics portrayal (an ally of Thanos).
The trailer featured several bits and pieces (and lots of dialogue) of scenes, which then didn't appear in the completed film, such as Zoe Saldana seen topless from behind.
James Gunn cites Iron Man (2008) as an influence on the film: "We are starting Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is Marvel Cosmic, and we're doing exactly what they did with the first Iron Man film."
Gamora says she doesn't dance. Zoe Saldana is in fact, a professionally trained ballerina.
James Gunn's favorite song is Jackson 5's "I Want You Back", and he was delighted to get a chance to feature it in the film.
According to the mid-credit scene of Thor: The Dark World (2013), the Collector is already in possession of the Reality Infinity Stone and wants to own all of them.
The main city seen from above on Xandar, as well as the ships flown by the Nova Corps, sport the same design as the logo on the helmet of Nova from the comics, who has close ties to the Guardians.
In the unreleased trailer shown at the 2013 Comic-Con and D23 Expo, Peter Quill, giving the finger to the Nova Corps officers, was not blurred, and did not have the "Obscene Gesture Alert" graphic. This was intentionally added in the official trailer for general audiences.
Nicole Perlman is the first woman to be credited for writing a Marvel screenplay.
Peter "Star-Lord" Quill escapes from the planet Morag after an encounter with the Sakaarans. Their home world, Sakaar, is where the Hulk's spaceship lands in the "Planet Hulk" comic. Also, this is the place where Thor and Hulk fight in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In this movie, the Grandmaster (brother of the Collector) is set.
James Gunn has stated several times that Rocket was a big, if not the main, reason he wanted to make this movie. In fact, when it was confirmed that the film was a hit, Gunn put a heartfelt thank you letter online, specifically thanking everyone for letting a Raccoon make them a little more human.
While devising a plan to stop Ronan, Quill says he has "twelve percent of a plan", the same percentage of credit Tony Stark gives Pepper for the planning of Stark Tower in The Avengers (2012).
Nebula is Thanos' daughter in the film, but his granddaughter in the comics.
This story of how Drax has trouble with language really struck a chord with an autistic child. Dave Bautista re-posted the story on his Facebook page, commenting, "I have to say this is pretty awesome and unexpected."
Almost all of the voices of the Sakaarans were done by James Gunn and Assistant Director Simon Hatt.
Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) makes fun of Quill's knapsack, calling it a purse. In The Hangover (2009), Cooper (Phil) makes fun of Alan's satchel, calling it a purse.
Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Jensen Ackles, Lee Pace, Wes Bentley, Jack Huston, Cam Gigandet, Sullivan Stapleton, Logan Marshall-Green, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Lowell, James Marsden, Jim Sturgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aaron Paul, Michael Rosenbaum, Glenn Howerton, and John Krasinski auditioned and screentested for the role of Peter Quill (Star-Lord).
When the Collector is showing the Guardians the history of the Infinity Stone, Groot puts his fingers through a hologram of the Tesseract (also an Infinity Stone).
In the space prison, it says in Rocket's description: "Warning: Tendency to bite."
"Guardians of the Galaxy" was first published in January 1969 with a different team. The team in the film is also composed of characters who existed in Marvel Comics prior to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977): -Star-Lord appeared in Marvel Preview #4 (January, 1976). -Rocket Raccoon appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer, 1976). -Gamora appeared in Strange Tales #180 (June, 1975). -Drax the Destroyer appeared in Iron Man #55 (February, 1973). -Groot appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November, 1960).
According to James Gunn, Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, is designed after a mausoleum: "It's minimal and brutal, a stark gray colorless world devoid of any set dressing whatsoever, and relying purely on its heavy concrete-like architecture to convey its tone and function."
Cosmo, a telepathic dog from the early Soviet space missions, and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, has a cameo during the Collector's scenes on Knowhere.
In the space prison, Peter Quill's description mentions: "A.K.A.: Space Lord." This is a reference to the running gag that no one seems to remembers Quill's outlaw name, Star-Lord, throughout the film.
Adam Sandler, David Tennant, Sharlto Copley, Jim Carrey, and H. Jon Benjamin were considered to voice Rocket Raccoon.
Yondu was originally meant to be killed off in the end of the movie.
The film sets up the third phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Untitled Avengers Movie (2019).
James Gunn has stated, on his Facebook page, that unlike most films, Tyler Bates would write some of the score in advance, so Gunn could film to the music.
The character Yondu supposedly sports a Mohawk-style hair as depicted in comics, but James Gunn decided not to give his friend Michael Rooker a wig, reasoning that Rooker's clumsiness would be a foil to his acting.
Was the highest grossing film of summer 2014 at the North American box-office, becoming the first August release to top the summer box-office since ticket sales were regularly tabulated in the mid-1970s.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards at the 87th Academy Awards, Best Make-up Achievement and Achievement in Visual Effects, but lost out to The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Interstellar (2014).
As of August 2014, this movie holds the record for being the widest August release in over four thousand eighty theaters, breaking the previous record holder, which was G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) with four thousand seven theaters.
Bradley Cooper (Rocket) and Zoe Saldana (Gamora) starred as a couple in the romance film The Words (2012), and were in an off-screen relationship until shortly before production of this film started.
The first non-Avengers Marvel property developed by Walt Disney Pictures.
Before the final "big battle" scene, the Guardians are all together in a circle and one-by-one they stand up and verbally commit to join Quill's mission. When Rocket stands up, he distinctly performs what is known in the Star Trek universe as the "Picard Maneuver". He stands up and with both hands (or paws) tugs the bottom of his uniform top, presumably to ensure a nice crisp fit. It is unknown if this was an intentional nod to the Trekkers in the viewing audience, but most Picard fans likely caught this in the movie.
Olivia Wilde turned down the role of Gamora, while Gina Carano, Rachel Nichols, and Adrianne Palicki auditioned.
When Rocket asks Quill for the prisoner's prosthetic leg, you can hear him (Rocket) giggle a bit.
Jason Momoa auditioned for, and was offered, the role of Drax the Destroyer, but turned down the role, because he didn't want to be pigeonholed as a brute by the audience (having played several action roles) and to free himself up to direct Road to Paloma (2014).
James Gunn once joked about how George Lucas heavily edited the original Star Wars trilogy for re-releases. After the release of this film, Gunn admitted he would like to go back to re-edit several scenes like Lucas.
This film is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to not have a kissing scene (Quill and Gamora almost kissed at Knowhere before Gamora withdrew at the last moment).
Peyton Reed was considered to direct this film. He was later chosen to direct Ant-Man (2015) another Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
This film identifies the Collector's Assistant (Ophelia Lovibond) as Carina. In the comics, the Collector's daughter was named Carina Walters.
It's been confirmed that unlike in the comics, Jason of Spartax is not Peter Quill's father in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Badoon (recurring enemies of the Guardians in the comics) couldn't be used, since their rights belong to 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four franchise, even though supplementary material has established their existence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Sakaarans were used to fill the gap.
The seven-pointed flame emblem the Ravagers have on their clothes was originally the emblem of the original seven members of the 2008 "Guardians of the Galaxy" Marvel comic, upon which this film is based.
HIDDEN MICKEY: At the end of the film, as the ship is taking off, you can see three suns in the distance; looking very much like silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head.
The Nova Corps world, Xandar, is based mainly on the designs of modern Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
According to Producer Victoria Alonso, Rocket Raccoon and Groot were created through a mix of motion-capture, and rotomation visual effects.
The film was released twenty-eight years to the day after Howard the Duck (1986). The title character appears in the post-credits sequence.
Before being cast as Yondu, Michael Rooker expressed interest in playing Rocket Raccoon, and there was a large fan petition trying to make it happen.
In the beginning of the movie, the Missouri flag is seen on the nurses' desk next to where Peter Quill is sitting. James Gunn was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.
London's Millennium Bridge can be seen during the the Battle of Xandar.
Three soundtracks were released: Tyler Bates' score, an album of the songs on Quill's Walkman mixtape and a "deluxe" compilation of the two albums. The mixtape album was actually given a limited release on cassette, the first cassette released by Walt DisneyGroup since 2003 (the cassette version also included a digital download version of the album).
According to James Gunn, the stinger at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier(2014) with Baron Von Strucker and the twins was originally the stinger for this film, but the scene ended up being used for Winter Soldier instead.
When attending the 18th Nantucket Film Festival, Glenn Close stated that she only agreed to star in the film since "it will then afford me to go do the other kind of movies that I really love." However, she followed it up by saying; "And hopefully I will have a great time. It'll be a new experience for me, but practically speaking it will mean that I can do those smaller movies and it'll be okay."
On October 21, Marvel announced that the mix tape from the film will be released on audio cassette from November 17 until December 31.
The first film of 2014 to cross the three hundred million dollar mark in the U.S.
In the comics, Peter Quill has often been the significant other of "X-Men" heroine Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat).
Thanos' cameo in the end credits of The Avengers (2012) and The Collector's cameo in Thor: The Dark World (2013) set the stage for this movie.
The t-shirt young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) (and later Bereet (Melia Kreiling)) wears is for the fictional J.D. Canoe Rental on the real Dolores River in Colorado.
In the comic books, Peter Quill's father is J'Son (Jason of Spartax), Emperor of the Spartoi Empire.
The character of The Other, as voiced by Alexis Denisof, first appeared in The Avengers(2012). He was the one who gave Loki the staff that contains the Infinity Mind Stone (confirmed in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)). He also appeared in the post-credits scene introducing Thanos.
Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista appeared in Riddick (2013).
During Rocket's line-up, his known aliases list Phyla-Vell, known in comics as Quasar (Captain Marvel). She is also the lover of Drax's daughter.
In an episode of Parks and Recreation (2009), the ending of a conversation between Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) is heard. Wyatt is heard saying, "And all you did was stop drinking beer?", to which Dwyer responds, "Yeah, and I lost like sixty pounds." This is a reference to Pratt's weight loss in preparing for his role as Peter Quill (Star-Lord) in this film.
When Groot and Rocket capture Quill and Gamora, Rocket tells Groot to get him, referring to Quill. Despite the use of a male pronoun, Groot mistakenly aims for Gamora instead, who is a female. This implies that Groot does not understand gender, and may in fact be of a genderless species.
Highest rated Marvel movie on IMDb.com, as of December 2014. It has since been surpassed by Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
James Gunn interviewed many voice actors for Rocket Raccoon, before deciding to go for a celebrity to voice the character.
The Collector and Carina were first seen in the mid-credit scene in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
Debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in January 1969. Dave Bautista was born on January 18, 1969.
When interviewed by Bogart the Explorer, Dave Bautista theorizes that Drax shares their Filipino heritage, explaining that Drax's skill with knife-fighting makes him "a Kali guru."
Dave Bautista left WWE to promote the film.
Towards the end, Star-Lord calls Ronan "turd blossom", the nickname George W. Bushaffectionately used for Karl Rove.
Early drafts featured Nova (although it's unclear as to which Nova, Richard Rider, or Sam Alexander) as a central character. He was cut once James Gunn took over, as he took away focus from Star-Lord's story, and because Gunn dislikes the character.
The first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, not featuring Iron Man, to cross three hundred million dollars in the U.S.
The character Bug, a former thief who became a Guardian of the Galaxy, was included in early versions of the script.
Chapter Four of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nebula first appeared in The Avengers #257 in July 1985.
HIDDEN MICKEY: When the Guardians arrive on Knowhere to sell the sphere, the roof of the Collector's club looks like the Mickey Mouse ears available at Disney parks.
In the film's Japanese dub, Star-Lord is voiced by Jun'ichi Suwabe. He was chosen because he played a similar character in Space Dandy (2014).
Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe were considered for roles.
Several characters talk about Kevin Bacon in Footloose (1984). Bacon appeared in leading villain roles in both the Marvel Comics film X-Men: First Class (2011) and the James Gunnfilm Super (2010).
In the comics, Drax the Destroyer was born Arthur Douglas, a man assassinated, together with his family and wife by a Thanos' experiment. Later, cosmic entity Kronos (Thanos' grandfather) captured Douglas' soul before he arrived to Afterlife, and placed him in a new and powerful body, in order to stop Thanos' plans to get the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract shown in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). As Arthur Douglas, he was father of Heather Douglas, super-heroine Moondragon.
As well as using London's Millennium Bridge to double as a location on Xandar, the bird's-eye view shots also include other features of the London skyline, such as 30 St. Mary Axe (The Gherkin).
Stan Lee was originally slated to cameo in the Collector's collection on Knowhere, in which he would have flipped off Groot from within a display case (possibly a reference to the fact that Groot is the only member of the team that Lee had any hand in creating). The scene was cut, because Lee was in England at the time, and couldn't be reached for filming, as well as Disney executives considering it to be inappropriate.
During the escape scene, one of the guards says that "the animal is in control", in reference to Rocket, before he is tackled by Drax (Dave Bautista). Bautista's WWE nickname was "The Animal".
James Gunn wanted to have Rom the Space Knight pop up in the movie, but was unable to do so because Marvel did not have the rights to use the character (it is currently owned by Hasbro after it acquired Parker Brothers).
The highest grossing Marvel film of 2014.
It was rumored that Karen Gillan was going to play Angela, a sword-wielding bounty hunter, also from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" comics. However, she instead plays the evil cyborg Nebula.
Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) and Peter Serafinowicz (Denarian Saal) appeared on Parks and Recreation (2009), where their characters had quite a few similarities.
In the Marvel Comics, Peter Quill (Star-Lord) has a sentient ship that communicates telepathically with him. Also, a "widget", which stays by his side, is part of the ship as well. The ship also has a human-looking 3-D avatar.
James Gunn paid tribute to his first horror comedy film, Slither (2006). This movie was about a small town being invaded by slimy body-snatching alien slugs. They reappear in this film for a cameo as part of the Collectors' collection.
At the beginning of the movie, when Young Quill is listening to his music, two mini flags can be seen; one is the United States flag and the other is the Missouri state flag, indicating Quill's current location.
Early drafts of the script included Bug. He was even back in the Guardians' comic relaunch to promote the character briefly. He was left out because Marvel doesn't own the film rights to the character.
During the Broker scenes, chromatic glass cubes can be seen. These were created by California-based glass artist Jack Storm.
Bereet (Melia Kreiling), the red-skinned girl on Peter Quill's (Chris Pratt's) ship, is an homage to the "Rampaging Hulk" comics story. She was an alien, helping the Hulk and Rick Jones to stop an alien invasion.
The French dub is globally more polite and kid-friendly than the original version.
This film reunites Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Nathan Fillion, Rob Zombie, and Lloyd Kaufman, who were all in James Gunn's feature film debut Slither (2006) as well as Super(2010). Gunn also played small roles in all of the movies.
In the original comics, Drax the Destroyer was a human, named Arthur Douglas. Thanos attacked him and his family, because he thought they'd seen his ship. He and his wife died. His daughter, Heather, survived the attack and was adopted by Mentor (Thanos' father). She's a powerful telepath, who's been both villain and hero. Kronos, (Thanos' grandfather) whose spirit had merged with time and space, resurrected Douglas as Drax the Destroyer, a living weapon, designed to hunt and kill Thanos. The comic Drax was green, had super strength, could fly, and shoot powerful energy beams. Whenever he came face to face with Thanos, he went into a berserker rage. His anger ratcheted up his powers to equal Thanos. One fight between them was so intense, that they shattered the planet they were on, into debris.
Drax (Dave Bautista) has the image of a red skull on his left arm.
This is the second movie featuring John C. Reilly that features an "Awesome Mix" tape. The first was Boogie Nights (1997).
When entering Knowhere, it is said to be a planet of outlaws, with little to no order. Later, during the big fight of the Guardians, Peter Quill gets the group to calm down by yelling they are about to make a trade for four billion units. It's hard to believe no one in a planet of outlaws would try and attack them for the orb, to get the money themselves. This is not a goof, since all Quill says is "four billion units", he doesn't give away any further information. The four of them would have to be captured, and then tortured for information, and since Quill said "one more night", he made it known that it was time sensitive. The only way to truly get the money, would have been to follow them and wait, until they had their money.
The film has three collaborators who voiced villains in the Star Wars Universe: Peter Serafinowicz (playing Denarian Saal) did the Voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999); Supervising Sound Editor Matthew Wood provided the voice for General Grievous from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005); and Seth Green, who voiced Howard the Duck, did the voice of the antagonistic service droid Todo 360 in several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). Interestingly, Benicio Del Toro, who played the Collector in this movie, was supposed to play Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) before he dropped out, but has been cast in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) as "DJ".
Rachel Nichols was also considered for the role of Gamora, which eventually went to Zoe Saldana. Both actresses appeared in Star Trek (2009), in which Rachel's character Gaila was also green in color, like Gamora.
Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade, and Jason Momoa were considered for the role of Drax the Destroyer.
The film was made to bring cosmic characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Pete "Buzzsaw" Holland played the part of a prisoner held in The Kyln, and had to taunt Gamora from outside her cell. He also played a prisoner in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), encouraging Bruce Wayne to escape the prison pit. He is one of the few actors to play characters in both the Marvel and DC universes, and in both cases, a prisoner who does some shouting.
Laura Haddock also played a minor role in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
The songs "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night were considered for the Guardians' trip to Knowhere before David Bowie's "Moonage Dream" was chosen.
Zoe Saldana (Gamora) and Bradley Cooper (Rocket) were once a couple.
The film has six Academy Award nominated cast members: Glenn Close, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, and Benicio Del Toro.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017) take place four years before Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
During production, James Gunn at one point became concerned that he was making the next The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).
Drax never wears a shirt for the entirety of the film.
Chris Pratt was thirty-five years old when he starred in this movie. Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in the Star Wars saga, was also thirty-five when he first played the role in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Star-Lord and Han Solo are the same kind of space-movie stock character.
Thandie Newton was considered for the role of Gamora.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
Quill refers to their group as a "bunch of losers". Zoe Saldana (Gamora) had previously starred in the comic book film The Losers (2010), alongside Chris Evans (Captain America).
Chris Pratt played Bright Abbott on the television show Everwood (2002). His sister on the show, Amy Abbott, was played by Emily VanCamp, who played S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Kate (Agent 13) in Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
James Gunn reportedly cut several scenes just so Chris Pratt's very adult "Jackson Pollack" joke would make it through editing.
Peter Quill calls one of Korath's guards a Ninja Turtle. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(2014) was released on August 8th, shortly after this film was released. An ad for the film, released when it returned to the number one spot at the U.S. box-office, after Turtles held the spot for two straight weeks, edited the "Ninja Turtle" line into "Take that, Ninja Turtle!"
Chris Pratt read for the role of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek (2009). Zoe Saldanaplayed Nyota Uhura in the film.
Gal Gadot revealed that she was up for the role of Nebula, before it went to Karen Gillan. Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Wonder Woman (2017), from Marvel's comic book competitor DC Comics.
Vin Diesel and Michael Rooker provided voices in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004).
Yondu, and the Ravagers, call the planet Earth "Terra" (which is Latin). Coincidentally, this is also what Earth is called in Italian (but its inhabitants are not called Terrans, but "Terrestri").
Gamora was trained as a weapon by Thanos, after Thanos murders her family and adopts her. In Zoe Saldana's earlier film Colombiana (2011), Colombiana becomes a trained assassin after her family is murdered.
One of two summer 2014 blockbusters to feature a furry character named Rocket. The other is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).
Djimon Hounsou previously appeared in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life(2003), also about a quest for an orb with the power to be a world-destroyer.
Drax the Destroyer is a nod to Conan the Barbarian. Drax seeks revenge upon Ronan, who slew Drax's wife and child. Marvel Comics had started making comic books of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories in 1970 written by Roy Thomas. Jason Momoa, who turned down the role of Drax, played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011).
In the scene with Quill and Gamora on Knowwhere and she is listening to his Walkman, the entrance way behind them looks very similar to a large ARC reactor, like the one Iron Man uses.
Robert Firth plays Dr. Fitzgibbon, the attending physician in the opening scenes of the film. His character is named after a personal friend of James Gunn. There's a Fitzgibbon in every one of his films. Unfortunately for Firth, his scenes were cut from the final edit. He plays yet another physician, Dr. Stillwell, in the Oliver Stone thriller Snowden (2016). Fortunately for Firth, in that film, portions of his performance still remain.
Benicio Del Toro returned as The Collector in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
RATINGS: IMDB ― 8.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 91%, ME ― 90%
Peter Quill: I have a plan.
Rocket Raccoon: You've got a plan? Okay, first of all, you're copying me from when I said I had a plan.
Peter Quill: I'm not copying you, I have a plan, that's not that unique of a thing to say.
Rocket Raccoon: And secondly, I don't think you even have a plan.
Peter Quill: I have part of a plan.
Drax the Destroyer: What percentage of a plan do you have?
Gamora: You don't get to ask questions after the nonsense you pulled on Knowhere!
Drax the Destroyer: I just saved Quill!
Peter Quill: We've already established that you destroying the ship I'm on is not saving me!
Drax the Destroyer: When did we establish that?
Peter Quill: Like three seconds ago!
Drax the Destroyer: Well I wasn't listening then, I was thinking of something else...
Rocket Raccoon: She's right, you don't get an opinion... What percentage?
Peter Quill: I dunno... Twelve percent?
Rocket Raccoon: Twelve percent?
[starts laughing]
Peter Quill: That's a fake laugh.
Rocket Raccoon: It's real!
Peter Quill: Totally fake!
Rocket Raccoon: That is the most real, authentic, hysterical laugh of my entire life because THAT IS NOT A PLAN!
Gamora: It's barely a concept.
Peter Quill: [to Gamora] You're taking their side?
Groot: I am Groot.
Rocket Raccoon: So what, "It's better than eleven percent!" What the hell does that have to do with anything?
Peter Quill: [to Groot] Thank you Groot, thank you. See? Groot's the only one of you who has a clue.
Groot: [Groot begins to chew on a leaf protruding from his shoulder]
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Vin Diesel as Groot
Trivia (From IMDB):
Chris Pratt apparently stole his Star-Lord costume from the set, for the sole purpose of having it available so he could show up in costume to visit sick children in the hospital, who might want to meet Star-Lord.
When Dave Bautista found out he got the role of Drax the Destroyer, he broke down in tears, overjoyed at getting a Marvel comic book role. He prepared for the role with an acting coach.
Vin Diesel recorded all his lines in several different languages, including Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and French, so that they could use his real voice in the film around the world.
James Gunn stated that Chris Pratt's audition was so good, he was prepared to offer him the role, even if Pratt did not lose weight, or get in shape in time. Gunn joked that he was willing to CGI a six-pack on Pratt's body. However, Pratt asked Gunn to give him six months to lose fifty pounds, and he ended up losing sixty.
The soundtrack album "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, the first film soundtrack ever to do so without any original music. It was also nominated for the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack.
According to Vin Diesel, his performance as Groot helped him through a dark time in his life. He was dealing with the loss of his best friend and "Fast and Furious" co-star Paul Walker: "It was the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does, was very nice."
According to Vin Diesel, the voice of Groot, he recorded Groot's iconic line, "I am Groot", over one thousand times.
The scene where Peter drops the orb during the Collector scene was not scripted. According to the commentary, Chris Pratt accidentally dropped it during filming, but remained in character through the whole thing, so it stayed in the final film.
Bradley Cooper told Howard Stern that he was paid more for voicing Rocket in this movie, than for starring in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and The Hangover (2009) combined.
Zoe Saldana nearly broke Chris Pratt's ribs while filming a fight sequence. During training, Pratt and Saldana would wear protective gear so they could actually hit each other. However, when the day came to film the scene, Pratt forgot to wear his protective gear and did not tell Saldana, because he thought she would hold back if she knew. Saldana (under the impression he was wearing the gear like he usually did) kicked him square in the ribs, which made Pratt fall to the ground. According to Pratt, he had a bruise for the remainder of filming.
Chris Pratt cites heroes Han Solo and Marty McFly as influences on his performance as Star-Lord.
According to James Gunn, Star-Lord's obscene gesture was an improvisation by Chris Pratt.
Star-Lord's line, "If I had a blacklight, this place would look like a Jackson Pollockpainting," was ad-libbed by Chris Pratt.
James Gunn has confirmed, via Twitter, that Peter Quill's ship in the film is named The Milano after Alyssa Milano, Peter Quill's childhood crush.
James Gunn didn't want to see Chris Pratt auditioning. He was convinced later, by his assistant, at the end of the auditions. After Pratt read for thirty seconds, Gunn stated that he knew Pratt was perfect for the role.
Prior to release, Bill Mantlo, the comic book writer who created Rocket Raccoon, and has been permanently hospitalized, due to the severity of a crippling traffic accident in 1992, was granted a private screening by Marvel Entertainment and Walt Disney Pictures. According to his brother, Michael Mantlo, Bill was pleased with the adaptation (which credits him by name as the character's creator) and considered the occasion a happy day for him and his family.
The cassette player used by Peter Quill was the Sony TPS-L2. It was the first personal cassette player released in 1979. It was originally called the "Soundabout", then changed to "Walkman".
It took the Make-up Artists five hours daily to do make-up, and apply eighteen prosthetic tattoo pieces onto Dave Bautista. Chris Pratt revealed that during the process, Bautista stood the entire time, with hands holding onto rails which had tennis balls on them, with no complaints whatsoever. Eventually, the process was narrowed down to an average of three hours, while ninety minutes were required to remove the make-up.
When arrested, Rocket's attributes list his known associates: Groot and Lylla. Lady Lylla is a Sentient Otter and soulmate to Rocket in the Marvel Universe.
James Gunn would keep a pile of little Play-Doh containers on-set. If someone did an especially amazing job that day, whether it was an actor, a grip, a stuntman, or a personal assistant, he or she would get a canister of Play-Doh. Gunn says he gave out forty containers over the entire shoot, on an eighty-five-day shoot, with a crew of two hundred: "I love the smell of Play-Doh. Opening a new container and smelling it, puts me in a creative, child-like place, and who doesn't love playing with Play-Doh?"
Zoe Saldana wanted to portray Gamora through make-up, rather than computer graphics imagery, or performance capture.
Drax's comment about Groot's ability to release "fireflies", "When did you learn to do that?" is an inside joke, as Groot has never shown this ability in the comic books.
The opening cave scene was originally written around Blue Swede's "Hooked On A Feeling", but James Gunn felt Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" worked far better.
After filming finished, James Gunn gave Dave Bautista a Drax lunchbox to add to his collection of vintage lunchboxes. Meanwhile, Bautista gave Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldanasome custom WWE Championship belts.
Iron Man was planned to have a cameo role in this film (in an homage to his being the Guardians' latest member in the comics around 2013), but this was scrapped when Robert Downey, Jr. said he may not reprise his role as Tony Stark in the future. Downey has since signed a contract to reprise the role for two "Avengers" sequels.
In the comics, Drax is green. However, for the film, his color was changed to a muddier grey, partly because the movie already had a bright-green character (Gamora), but mostly to distinguish his appearance from the Hulk.
Stan Lee's cameo was originally going to feature him as one of the Collector's boxed trophies, giving Groot the middle finger. Disney executives didn't like this, and had James Gunn change it to Lee being an alien Casanova.
Vin Diesel loved his character, Groot, so much, he would go to promotions and premieres wearing the stilts he wore for the movie and a shirt proclaiming "I Am Groot".
Chris Pratt went on a very strict training regimen and diet for six months, and dropped sixty pounds, eventually getting a six-pack for his shirtless scenes. He said it was a lot of hard work, almost "torturous", but when he was filming his shirtless scenes, and saw the playback on the monitor, he felt the effort was well worth it, and was "extremely excited to see the best possible physical version of himself".
Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista spent two and a half months training and rehearsing for their fight scene. On the Friday night before the Monday that they were scheduled to film the scene, James Gunn decided that the fight wouldn't work on-camera, so he scrapped the entire sequence, for which they had been practicing. Gunn also decided he wanted the entire fight to be filmed in one long shot, with no cuts. As a result, Pratt and Bautista only had a few hours to learn the choreography for the fight sequence, which is in the movie. According to Bautista, it took them twenty-two takes to get it right on film.
The Collector's residence in the film is the space station Knowhere. In the comics, Knowhere is the base of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Benicio Del Toro's uncredited cameo as The Collector in Thor: The Dark World (2013) was written to set the stage for this film.
According to James Gunn, the film's soundtrack is composed mainly of 1970s and 1980s songs, as they are part of Quill's memories of Earth: "The music is one of those touchstones we have to remind us that Quill is a real person from planet Earth who's just like you and me, except that he's in this big outer space adventure."
According to the filmmakers, Rocket Raccoon in this film is a unique product of experimentation: "He's a little animal who was taken and experimented on and pulled apart and put back together again and implanted with cybernetics and he's half-machine and half-raccoon, and he's a gnarled, miserable, angry creature because there's nothing else like him, and that's something not easy to be."
At one point, Quill calls Rocket "Ranger Rick", a reference to the long-running children's nature magazine which features a cartoon raccoon with that name.
Bradley Cooper cited Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci's character in Goodfellas (1990)) as an influence on Rocket Racoon's voice.
Josh Brolin is uncredited, and in fact was the last person cast. He was offered the role while filming Everest (2015). He based the characterization of Thanos primarily on Marlon Brando's role of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now (1979).
Djimon Hounsou took the role of Korath for the sake of his son: "I have a son who loves superheroes from Spider-Man to Iron Man to Batman. One day he looks at me and says 'Dad, I want to be light-skinned so I could be Spider-Man. Spider-Man has light skin.' That was sort of a shock." In recent years, in the Marvel Ultimates comic book universe, the Spider-Man mantle has been held by Miles Morales, a half-black, half-Hispanic teenager.
When Vin Diesel started recording his lines for Groot, he was pleasantly surprised to find himself working with an old friend, Doc Kane, the sound technician he'd worked with on The Iron Giant (1999).
Chris Pratt thought it was extremely important "to have the physicality of a comic book hero" to play Star-Lord. Growing up, he had "always been fascinated with the anatomy of comic book heroes" and he would always draw them as very "cut and ripped", and felt he had to appear similar, in order to do the role justice.
James Gunn reasoned that the usage of songs from the 1970s would help grounding to reality and providing fun juxtaposition. In an interview, he revealed he had compiled a list of hit songs which appear in the Billboard charts during this time, and narrowed it down to one hundred twenty to be considered for use in the film. It helped Gunn entirely throughout production, as some scenes were either filmed around the music as it played in the background, or it served as inspiration for him to write a scene around the track.
Yondu's primary weapon is a sentient arrow. In the comics, Yondu was an archer.
Rocket Raccoon was modelled on a raccoon named Oreo living in the UK.
Primarily based on the 2008 comic team (Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot), but features Yondu, a member of the original 1969 comic team, as an ally.
Benicio Del Toro described the Collector as "Liberace in outer space."
When we first see Bereet (Melia Kreiling) aboard the Milano, she is wearing the t-shirt young Peter (Wyatt Oleff) was wearing when he was abducted from Terra (Earth).
James Gunn's brother Sean Gunn, who did the on-set acting for Rocket, improvised the line "A bunch of jackasses standing in a circle."
In Dutch, Afrikaans, and Flemish, "Groot" means "big." "I am Groot" would therefore mean "I am big".
In the movie, Yondu is portrayed as a villainous mercenary. However, in the comics, Yondu is of a tribal warrior race.
Vin Diesel recorded his lines wearing stilts, so he could get a sense of how large Groot actually is.
When the Guardians are negotiating with the Collector, and the holograms of the Infinity Stone's sisters are shown, both the Aether from "Thor: The Dark World" and the Tesseract from "The Avengers" movies can be seen.
"Cherry Bomb" was actually played on set as the characters made their epic entrance before the final battle, to help them get into character. Tyler Bates composed the original score before the filming process began so it could be played on set to help the actors' performance in certain scenes. "Cherry Bomb" is also the name of the band from Howard the Duck (1986). Howard appears in the end-of-credits scene, and was the first movie based off of a Marvel comic.
The sales of Blue Swede's "Hooked on a Feeling" shot up by seven hundred percent after the release of the film's first trailer, which prominently featured the song.
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Thanos almost got cut from the movie, but James Gunn decided to keep him for a connection to The Avengers (2012).
Alexandra Byrne was flustered when measuring Djimon Hounsou for his outfit. She stated that he was so perfectly built, she could put a beanbag on him and he'd make it look good.
The film has even generated renewed interest in and demand for personal cassette players, especially classic Walkmans, like Peter's.
Features the first on-screen appearance of a Celestial's severed head. The Celestials are an ancient race of godlike beings who watch over and change the universe for both good and evil.
The Avengers (2012) director Joss Whedon, who signed a deal to creatively consult on all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, was enthusiastic about the selection of James Gunn to direct.
To prepare for the role of Nebula, Karen Gillan shaved her head.
Chris Pratt said that a shirtless "selfie" of himself taken during the filming of Zero Dark Thirty (2012) won him the role of Star-Lord in this film. On a chat show on which he appeared, he had released a photo of himself in his underwear, flexing and showing off an excessively ripped and muscular body. It was this photo that convinced the producers of this film that he could actually get in shape and play a superhero. During final meetings, they brought out the picture of him, and asked him if he could get back that physique. He promised them he could, and he actually surpassed it with an even more rigorous six-month training schedule.
The dog, which appears in the hologram Quill projects over the ruins on Morag, is James Gunn's own dog, Wesley Von Spears.
Djimon Hounsou found his costume and make-up as Korath very uncomfortable and rigid. He channelled this discomfort into his action sequences.
According to James Gunn, Star-Lord's ship the Milano is based on a hot rod: "Its environment is reminiscent of Earth, and has a tangible quality, mechanical with chrome and leather, and a muscle-car look."
James Gunn compared the Avengers and the Guardians to music bands: "The Avengers are like The Beatles, but the Guardians are like The Rolling Stones!"
In the film, Ronan the Accuser is an Admiral serving under Thanos. This combines his classic Marvel comics portrayal (a top-ranking Military Governor) with his Marvel Ultimate comics portrayal (an ally of Thanos).
The trailer featured several bits and pieces (and lots of dialogue) of scenes, which then didn't appear in the completed film, such as Zoe Saldana seen topless from behind.
James Gunn cites Iron Man (2008) as an influence on the film: "We are starting Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is Marvel Cosmic, and we're doing exactly what they did with the first Iron Man film."
Gamora says she doesn't dance. Zoe Saldana is in fact, a professionally trained ballerina.
James Gunn's favorite song is Jackson 5's "I Want You Back", and he was delighted to get a chance to feature it in the film.
According to the mid-credit scene of Thor: The Dark World (2013), the Collector is already in possession of the Reality Infinity Stone and wants to own all of them.
The main city seen from above on Xandar, as well as the ships flown by the Nova Corps, sport the same design as the logo on the helmet of Nova from the comics, who has close ties to the Guardians.
In the unreleased trailer shown at the 2013 Comic-Con and D23 Expo, Peter Quill, giving the finger to the Nova Corps officers, was not blurred, and did not have the "Obscene Gesture Alert" graphic. This was intentionally added in the official trailer for general audiences.
Nicole Perlman is the first woman to be credited for writing a Marvel screenplay.
Peter "Star-Lord" Quill escapes from the planet Morag after an encounter with the Sakaarans. Their home world, Sakaar, is where the Hulk's spaceship lands in the "Planet Hulk" comic. Also, this is the place where Thor and Hulk fight in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In this movie, the Grandmaster (brother of the Collector) is set.
James Gunn has stated several times that Rocket was a big, if not the main, reason he wanted to make this movie. In fact, when it was confirmed that the film was a hit, Gunn put a heartfelt thank you letter online, specifically thanking everyone for letting a Raccoon make them a little more human.
While devising a plan to stop Ronan, Quill says he has "twelve percent of a plan", the same percentage of credit Tony Stark gives Pepper for the planning of Stark Tower in The Avengers (2012).
Nebula is Thanos' daughter in the film, but his granddaughter in the comics.
This story of how Drax has trouble with language really struck a chord with an autistic child. Dave Bautista re-posted the story on his Facebook page, commenting, "I have to say this is pretty awesome and unexpected."
Almost all of the voices of the Sakaarans were done by James Gunn and Assistant Director Simon Hatt.
Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) makes fun of Quill's knapsack, calling it a purse. In The Hangover (2009), Cooper (Phil) makes fun of Alan's satchel, calling it a purse.
Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Jensen Ackles, Lee Pace, Wes Bentley, Jack Huston, Cam Gigandet, Sullivan Stapleton, Logan Marshall-Green, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Lowell, James Marsden, Jim Sturgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aaron Paul, Michael Rosenbaum, Glenn Howerton, and John Krasinski auditioned and screentested for the role of Peter Quill (Star-Lord).
When the Collector is showing the Guardians the history of the Infinity Stone, Groot puts his fingers through a hologram of the Tesseract (also an Infinity Stone).
In the space prison, it says in Rocket's description: "Warning: Tendency to bite."
"Guardians of the Galaxy" was first published in January 1969 with a different team. The team in the film is also composed of characters who existed in Marvel Comics prior to Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977): -Star-Lord appeared in Marvel Preview #4 (January, 1976). -Rocket Raccoon appeared in Marvel Preview #7 (Summer, 1976). -Gamora appeared in Strange Tales #180 (June, 1975). -Drax the Destroyer appeared in Iron Man #55 (February, 1973). -Groot appeared in Tales to Astonish #13 (November, 1960).
According to James Gunn, Ronan's ship, the Dark Aster, is designed after a mausoleum: "It's minimal and brutal, a stark gray colorless world devoid of any set dressing whatsoever, and relying purely on its heavy concrete-like architecture to convey its tone and function."
Cosmo, a telepathic dog from the early Soviet space missions, and member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, has a cameo during the Collector's scenes on Knowhere.
In the space prison, Peter Quill's description mentions: "A.K.A.: Space Lord." This is a reference to the running gag that no one seems to remembers Quill's outlaw name, Star-Lord, throughout the film.
Adam Sandler, David Tennant, Sharlto Copley, Jim Carrey, and H. Jon Benjamin were considered to voice Rocket Raccoon.
Yondu was originally meant to be killed off in the end of the movie.
The film sets up the third phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Untitled Avengers Movie (2019).
James Gunn has stated, on his Facebook page, that unlike most films, Tyler Bates would write some of the score in advance, so Gunn could film to the music.
The character Yondu supposedly sports a Mohawk-style hair as depicted in comics, but James Gunn decided not to give his friend Michael Rooker a wig, reasoning that Rooker's clumsiness would be a foil to his acting.
Was the highest grossing film of summer 2014 at the North American box-office, becoming the first August release to top the summer box-office since ticket sales were regularly tabulated in the mid-1970s.
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards at the 87th Academy Awards, Best Make-up Achievement and Achievement in Visual Effects, but lost out to The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and Interstellar (2014).
As of August 2014, this movie holds the record for being the widest August release in over four thousand eighty theaters, breaking the previous record holder, which was G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) with four thousand seven theaters.
Bradley Cooper (Rocket) and Zoe Saldana (Gamora) starred as a couple in the romance film The Words (2012), and were in an off-screen relationship until shortly before production of this film started.
The first non-Avengers Marvel property developed by Walt Disney Pictures.
Before the final "big battle" scene, the Guardians are all together in a circle and one-by-one they stand up and verbally commit to join Quill's mission. When Rocket stands up, he distinctly performs what is known in the Star Trek universe as the "Picard Maneuver". He stands up and with both hands (or paws) tugs the bottom of his uniform top, presumably to ensure a nice crisp fit. It is unknown if this was an intentional nod to the Trekkers in the viewing audience, but most Picard fans likely caught this in the movie.
Olivia Wilde turned down the role of Gamora, while Gina Carano, Rachel Nichols, and Adrianne Palicki auditioned.
When Rocket asks Quill for the prisoner's prosthetic leg, you can hear him (Rocket) giggle a bit.
Jason Momoa auditioned for, and was offered, the role of Drax the Destroyer, but turned down the role, because he didn't want to be pigeonholed as a brute by the audience (having played several action roles) and to free himself up to direct Road to Paloma (2014).
James Gunn once joked about how George Lucas heavily edited the original Star Wars trilogy for re-releases. After the release of this film, Gunn admitted he would like to go back to re-edit several scenes like Lucas.
This film is the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to not have a kissing scene (Quill and Gamora almost kissed at Knowhere before Gamora withdrew at the last moment).
Peyton Reed was considered to direct this film. He was later chosen to direct Ant-Man (2015) another Marvel Cinematic Universe film.
This film identifies the Collector's Assistant (Ophelia Lovibond) as Carina. In the comics, the Collector's daughter was named Carina Walters.
It's been confirmed that unlike in the comics, Jason of Spartax is not Peter Quill's father in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Badoon (recurring enemies of the Guardians in the comics) couldn't be used, since their rights belong to 20th Century Fox's Fantastic Four franchise, even though supplementary material has established their existence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Sakaarans were used to fill the gap.
The seven-pointed flame emblem the Ravagers have on their clothes was originally the emblem of the original seven members of the 2008 "Guardians of the Galaxy" Marvel comic, upon which this film is based.
HIDDEN MICKEY: At the end of the film, as the ship is taking off, you can see three suns in the distance; looking very much like silhouette of Mickey Mouse's head.
The Nova Corps world, Xandar, is based mainly on the designs of modern Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
According to Producer Victoria Alonso, Rocket Raccoon and Groot were created through a mix of motion-capture, and rotomation visual effects.
The film was released twenty-eight years to the day after Howard the Duck (1986). The title character appears in the post-credits sequence.
Before being cast as Yondu, Michael Rooker expressed interest in playing Rocket Raccoon, and there was a large fan petition trying to make it happen.
In the beginning of the movie, the Missouri flag is seen on the nurses' desk next to where Peter Quill is sitting. James Gunn was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.
London's Millennium Bridge can be seen during the the Battle of Xandar.
Three soundtracks were released: Tyler Bates' score, an album of the songs on Quill's Walkman mixtape and a "deluxe" compilation of the two albums. The mixtape album was actually given a limited release on cassette, the first cassette released by Walt DisneyGroup since 2003 (the cassette version also included a digital download version of the album).
According to James Gunn, the stinger at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier(2014) with Baron Von Strucker and the twins was originally the stinger for this film, but the scene ended up being used for Winter Soldier instead.
When attending the 18th Nantucket Film Festival, Glenn Close stated that she only agreed to star in the film since "it will then afford me to go do the other kind of movies that I really love." However, she followed it up by saying; "And hopefully I will have a great time. It'll be a new experience for me, but practically speaking it will mean that I can do those smaller movies and it'll be okay."
On October 21, Marvel announced that the mix tape from the film will be released on audio cassette from November 17 until December 31.
The first film of 2014 to cross the three hundred million dollar mark in the U.S.
In the comics, Peter Quill has often been the significant other of "X-Men" heroine Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat).
Thanos' cameo in the end credits of The Avengers (2012) and The Collector's cameo in Thor: The Dark World (2013) set the stage for this movie.
The t-shirt young Peter Quill (Wyatt Oleff) (and later Bereet (Melia Kreiling)) wears is for the fictional J.D. Canoe Rental on the real Dolores River in Colorado.
In the comic books, Peter Quill's father is J'Son (Jason of Spartax), Emperor of the Spartoi Empire.
The character of The Other, as voiced by Alexis Denisof, first appeared in The Avengers(2012). He was the one who gave Loki the staff that contains the Infinity Mind Stone (confirmed in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)). He also appeared in the post-credits scene introducing Thanos.
Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista appeared in Riddick (2013).
During Rocket's line-up, his known aliases list Phyla-Vell, known in comics as Quasar (Captain Marvel). She is also the lover of Drax's daughter.
In an episode of Parks and Recreation (2009), the ending of a conversation between Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) and Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) is heard. Wyatt is heard saying, "And all you did was stop drinking beer?", to which Dwyer responds, "Yeah, and I lost like sixty pounds." This is a reference to Pratt's weight loss in preparing for his role as Peter Quill (Star-Lord) in this film.
When Groot and Rocket capture Quill and Gamora, Rocket tells Groot to get him, referring to Quill. Despite the use of a male pronoun, Groot mistakenly aims for Gamora instead, who is a female. This implies that Groot does not understand gender, and may in fact be of a genderless species.
Highest rated Marvel movie on IMDb.com, as of December 2014. It has since been surpassed by Thor: Ragnarok (2017).
James Gunn interviewed many voice actors for Rocket Raccoon, before deciding to go for a celebrity to voice the character.
The Collector and Carina were first seen in the mid-credit scene in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
Debuted in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in January 1969. Dave Bautista was born on January 18, 1969.
When interviewed by Bogart the Explorer, Dave Bautista theorizes that Drax shares their Filipino heritage, explaining that Drax's skill with knife-fighting makes him "a Kali guru."
Dave Bautista left WWE to promote the film.
Towards the end, Star-Lord calls Ronan "turd blossom", the nickname George W. Bushaffectionately used for Karl Rove.
Early drafts featured Nova (although it's unclear as to which Nova, Richard Rider, or Sam Alexander) as a central character. He was cut once James Gunn took over, as he took away focus from Star-Lord's story, and because Gunn dislikes the character.
The first Marvel Cinematic Universe film, not featuring Iron Man, to cross three hundred million dollars in the U.S.
The character Bug, a former thief who became a Guardian of the Galaxy, was included in early versions of the script.
Chapter Four of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Nebula first appeared in The Avengers #257 in July 1985.
HIDDEN MICKEY: When the Guardians arrive on Knowhere to sell the sphere, the roof of the Collector's club looks like the Mickey Mouse ears available at Disney parks.
In the film's Japanese dub, Star-Lord is voiced by Jun'ichi Suwabe. He was chosen because he played a similar character in Space Dandy (2014).
Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe were considered for roles.
Several characters talk about Kevin Bacon in Footloose (1984). Bacon appeared in leading villain roles in both the Marvel Comics film X-Men: First Class (2011) and the James Gunnfilm Super (2010).
In the comics, Drax the Destroyer was born Arthur Douglas, a man assassinated, together with his family and wife by a Thanos' experiment. Later, cosmic entity Kronos (Thanos' grandfather) captured Douglas' soul before he arrived to Afterlife, and placed him in a new and powerful body, in order to stop Thanos' plans to get the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract shown in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). As Arthur Douglas, he was father of Heather Douglas, super-heroine Moondragon.
As well as using London's Millennium Bridge to double as a location on Xandar, the bird's-eye view shots also include other features of the London skyline, such as 30 St. Mary Axe (The Gherkin).
Stan Lee was originally slated to cameo in the Collector's collection on Knowhere, in which he would have flipped off Groot from within a display case (possibly a reference to the fact that Groot is the only member of the team that Lee had any hand in creating). The scene was cut, because Lee was in England at the time, and couldn't be reached for filming, as well as Disney executives considering it to be inappropriate.
During the escape scene, one of the guards says that "the animal is in control", in reference to Rocket, before he is tackled by Drax (Dave Bautista). Bautista's WWE nickname was "The Animal".
James Gunn wanted to have Rom the Space Knight pop up in the movie, but was unable to do so because Marvel did not have the rights to use the character (it is currently owned by Hasbro after it acquired Parker Brothers).
The highest grossing Marvel film of 2014.
It was rumored that Karen Gillan was going to play Angela, a sword-wielding bounty hunter, also from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" comics. However, she instead plays the evil cyborg Nebula.
Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) and Peter Serafinowicz (Denarian Saal) appeared on Parks and Recreation (2009), where their characters had quite a few similarities.
In the Marvel Comics, Peter Quill (Star-Lord) has a sentient ship that communicates telepathically with him. Also, a "widget", which stays by his side, is part of the ship as well. The ship also has a human-looking 3-D avatar.
James Gunn paid tribute to his first horror comedy film, Slither (2006). This movie was about a small town being invaded by slimy body-snatching alien slugs. They reappear in this film for a cameo as part of the Collectors' collection.
At the beginning of the movie, when Young Quill is listening to his music, two mini flags can be seen; one is the United States flag and the other is the Missouri state flag, indicating Quill's current location.
Early drafts of the script included Bug. He was even back in the Guardians' comic relaunch to promote the character briefly. He was left out because Marvel doesn't own the film rights to the character.
During the Broker scenes, chromatic glass cubes can be seen. These were created by California-based glass artist Jack Storm.
Bereet (Melia Kreiling), the red-skinned girl on Peter Quill's (Chris Pratt's) ship, is an homage to the "Rampaging Hulk" comics story. She was an alien, helping the Hulk and Rick Jones to stop an alien invasion.
The French dub is globally more polite and kid-friendly than the original version.
This film reunites Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, Nathan Fillion, Rob Zombie, and Lloyd Kaufman, who were all in James Gunn's feature film debut Slither (2006) as well as Super(2010). Gunn also played small roles in all of the movies.
In the original comics, Drax the Destroyer was a human, named Arthur Douglas. Thanos attacked him and his family, because he thought they'd seen his ship. He and his wife died. His daughter, Heather, survived the attack and was adopted by Mentor (Thanos' father). She's a powerful telepath, who's been both villain and hero. Kronos, (Thanos' grandfather) whose spirit had merged with time and space, resurrected Douglas as Drax the Destroyer, a living weapon, designed to hunt and kill Thanos. The comic Drax was green, had super strength, could fly, and shoot powerful energy beams. Whenever he came face to face with Thanos, he went into a berserker rage. His anger ratcheted up his powers to equal Thanos. One fight between them was so intense, that they shattered the planet they were on, into debris.
Drax (Dave Bautista) has the image of a red skull on his left arm.
This is the second movie featuring John C. Reilly that features an "Awesome Mix" tape. The first was Boogie Nights (1997).
When entering Knowhere, it is said to be a planet of outlaws, with little to no order. Later, during the big fight of the Guardians, Peter Quill gets the group to calm down by yelling they are about to make a trade for four billion units. It's hard to believe no one in a planet of outlaws would try and attack them for the orb, to get the money themselves. This is not a goof, since all Quill says is "four billion units", he doesn't give away any further information. The four of them would have to be captured, and then tortured for information, and since Quill said "one more night", he made it known that it was time sensitive. The only way to truly get the money, would have been to follow them and wait, until they had their money.
The film has three collaborators who voiced villains in the Star Wars Universe: Peter Serafinowicz (playing Denarian Saal) did the Voice of Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999); Supervising Sound Editor Matthew Wood provided the voice for General Grievous from Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005); and Seth Green, who voiced Howard the Duck, did the voice of the antagonistic service droid Todo 360 in several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008). Interestingly, Benicio Del Toro, who played the Collector in this movie, was supposed to play Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) before he dropped out, but has been cast in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) as "DJ".
Rachel Nichols was also considered for the role of Gamora, which eventually went to Zoe Saldana. Both actresses appeared in Star Trek (2009), in which Rachel's character Gaila was also green in color, like Gamora.
Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade, and Jason Momoa were considered for the role of Drax the Destroyer.
The film was made to bring cosmic characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Pete "Buzzsaw" Holland played the part of a prisoner held in The Kyln, and had to taunt Gamora from outside her cell. He also played a prisoner in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), encouraging Bruce Wayne to escape the prison pit. He is one of the few actors to play characters in both the Marvel and DC universes, and in both cases, a prisoner who does some shouting.
Laura Haddock also played a minor role in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).
The songs "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell and "Mama Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night were considered for the Guardians' trip to Knowhere before David Bowie's "Moonage Dream" was chosen.
Zoe Saldana (Gamora) and Bradley Cooper (Rocket) were once a couple.
The film has six Academy Award nominated cast members: Glenn Close, Bradley Cooper, Josh Brolin, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, and Benicio Del Toro.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017) take place four years before Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
During production, James Gunn at one point became concerned that he was making the next The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002).
Drax never wears a shirt for the entirety of the film.
Chris Pratt was thirty-five years old when he starred in this movie. Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in the Star Wars saga, was also thirty-five when he first played the role in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). Star-Lord and Han Solo are the same kind of space-movie stock character.
Thandie Newton was considered for the role of Gamora.
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.
Quill refers to their group as a "bunch of losers". Zoe Saldana (Gamora) had previously starred in the comic book film The Losers (2010), alongside Chris Evans (Captain America).
Chris Pratt played Bright Abbott on the television show Everwood (2002). His sister on the show, Amy Abbott, was played by Emily VanCamp, who played S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Kate (Agent 13) in Marvel's Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
James Gunn reportedly cut several scenes just so Chris Pratt's very adult "Jackson Pollack" joke would make it through editing.
Peter Quill calls one of Korath's guards a Ninja Turtle. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(2014) was released on August 8th, shortly after this film was released. An ad for the film, released when it returned to the number one spot at the U.S. box-office, after Turtles held the spot for two straight weeks, edited the "Ninja Turtle" line into "Take that, Ninja Turtle!"
Chris Pratt read for the role of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek (2009). Zoe Saldanaplayed Nyota Uhura in the film.
Gal Gadot revealed that she was up for the role of Nebula, before it went to Karen Gillan. Gadot was cast as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Wonder Woman (2017), from Marvel's comic book competitor DC Comics.
Vin Diesel and Michael Rooker provided voices in The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay (2004).
Yondu, and the Ravagers, call the planet Earth "Terra" (which is Latin). Coincidentally, this is also what Earth is called in Italian (but its inhabitants are not called Terrans, but "Terrestri").
Gamora was trained as a weapon by Thanos, after Thanos murders her family and adopts her. In Zoe Saldana's earlier film Colombiana (2011), Colombiana becomes a trained assassin after her family is murdered.
One of two summer 2014 blockbusters to feature a furry character named Rocket. The other is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014).
Djimon Hounsou previously appeared in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life(2003), also about a quest for an orb with the power to be a world-destroyer.
Drax the Destroyer is a nod to Conan the Barbarian. Drax seeks revenge upon Ronan, who slew Drax's wife and child. Marvel Comics had started making comic books of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories in 1970 written by Roy Thomas. Jason Momoa, who turned down the role of Drax, played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011).
In the scene with Quill and Gamora on Knowwhere and she is listening to his Walkman, the entrance way behind them looks very similar to a large ARC reactor, like the one Iron Man uses.
Robert Firth plays Dr. Fitzgibbon, the attending physician in the opening scenes of the film. His character is named after a personal friend of James Gunn. There's a Fitzgibbon in every one of his films. Unfortunately for Firth, his scenes were cut from the final edit. He plays yet another physician, Dr. Stillwell, in the Oliver Stone thriller Snowden (2016). Fortunately for Firth, in that film, portions of his performance still remain.
Benicio Del Toro returned as The Collector in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
This is the first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have over an hour of footage to be specially formatted in IMAX.
Gunn confirmed in May 2013 that Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe were being looked at for a role other then Ronan or Corpsman Dey. Given that Ronan and each of the Guardians were already cast, it is possible that they were considered for the role of Thanos. Watanabe had previously played the fake Ra'as Al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005).
James Gunn was asked on Twitter in 2016, if he had ever seen Farscape (1999), as it had some similarities in terms of character. He replied, that of all television shows, Farscape (1999) was the one that influenced Guardians the most.
The first letters of exactly half of the titles on the soundtrack anagram to "comics" or "cosmic." Marvel often uses the word "cosmic" when referring to events that take place away from Earth.
On James Gunn's official Facebook page on February 24, 2016, a member of the official page had called the film "The best science fiction film since Star Trek (2009)". Zoe Saldana (Gamora) played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in Star Trek (2009), and Chris Pratthad auditioned for Captain James T. Kirk.
The name Ronan is a fairly popular name in Ireland. There was even a Saint Ronan who was born in Ireland and sailed to France. The name is said to mean "little seal".
This is Brendan Fehr's second appearance in a movie based on a Marvel comic. The first was X-Men: First Class (2011), in which he appeared as a Communications Officer aboard a U.S. Navy ship. Kevin Bacon, who starred in "First Class", is also mentioned prominently in this film.
Djimon Hounsou and Tomas Arana appeared in Gladiator (2000).
Sean Gunn (Kraglin, and on-set Rocket) and Gregg Henry (Grandpa) appeared on Gilmore Girls (2000). They played Kirk Gleason and Mitchum Huntzberger, respectively. Both are regularly used by James Gunn (Sean is also his brother).
Benicio Del Toro appeared in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) as "DJ".
In Parks and Recreation (2009) season three, episode nine, "Andy and April's Fancy Party", Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) calls himself "the luckiest man in the galaxy."
In the comics, Yondu prefers archery as a way of defense. Michael Rooker (Yondu) appeared in The Walking Dead (2010) as Merle Dixon. Merle's brother Daryl is a famed archer on the show.
Many features of modern London, England, can be seen on Xandar, including the Millenium Bridge and the buildings known as the Shard and the Gerkin.
Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, Groot, and Yondu are all characters in the video game, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2014).
This is the second Marvel movie of 2014 to have a a montage near the end of the film set to a Marvin Gaye song. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), it's the song "Trouble Man"; in this movie, it's the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
On the Blu-ray version of the film, the main menu shows Quill's tape player on the Milano. Three "trading cards" are tucked into the left side of the player, two on the right. The ones on the left are Rocket, Drax, and Groot (in that order, top to bottom), while the ones on the right are Gamora and Star-Lord. The three on the left are shots from when the Guardians were booked on Xandar, while on the right, Gamora is shown from a scene near the end of the film when they're hunting Ronan, and the shot of Star-Lord is from the beginning of the film, when he's on Morag looking for the orb.
The film takes place in 1988 and 2014.
Was nominated for the Golden Schmoes Award for "Most Overrated Movie of the Year" (2014), but lost out to American Sniper (2014), which also starred Bradley Cooper.
The film establishes the Marvel Cosmic Universe, films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that take place in outer space.
Before she was announced to play Nebula. Karen Gillan had been rumored play a sword-wielding bounty hunter called Angela from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic book, who is like "Red Sonja in space" because she has red hair, wears a gold bikini and wields a sword. The character of Red Sonja, who appeared in Marvel comic books created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, was known for having red hair, wearing a bikini, and fighting with a sword.
Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is an expert marksman and sniper. Cooper also played an expert marksman and sniper in American Sniper (2014).
The word "groot" appears in James Joyce's novel "Finnegan's Wake".
This film features two of five Doctor Who (2005) stars to have roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Karen Gillan and Peter Serafinowicz were in the series, as well as Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World (2013)) and Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (which also included Jenna Coleman) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)).
Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Dave Bautista have worked with Katee Sackhoff, known for playing Kara Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica (2004). Karen Gillan starred opposite Katee Sackhoff in Oculus (2013); and Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista starred opposite Katee in Riddick (2013).
On August 14, 2017, over three years after the film's release, Karen Gillan admitted in an interview that she would like to join the cinematic DC comic book as the female incarnation of The Joker.
Chris Pratt starred in Parks and Recreation (2009), in which his character goes to London to work for Peter Serafinowicz (Denarian Saal). The movie was filmed in London as well.
John C. Reilly and Michael Rooker appeared in Days of Thunder (1990).
The third collaboration between James Gunn and his regulars, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Rob Zombie, and Nathan Fillion. Gunn has directed them in Slither (2006), and Super (2010), which was also a superhero film. Lloyd Kaufman appeared in all three films, but he and Sean Gunn collaborated with James Gunn on several earlier projects.
The story begins with the young and future Star-Lord on Earth in 1988. Though there is likely no connection, there was a PC video game issued in 1987 called "Star Lord" by SoftBook.
James Gunn wanted to use the song "Top of the World" by Greek Fire (Tommy Drake) a rock band from his native St. Louis, in the film, but ultimately nixed the idea in favor of an all-1970s soundtrack. The song appeared in trailers for Big Hero 6 (2014).
John C. Reilly's reference to a "code name" when he captures "Star-Prince" is a sort of inside joke about his and Will Farrell's code names in the movie Step Brothers (2008).
Drax is called "Drax the Destroyer" because he slays Ronan the Accuser's cohorts, as he seeks revenge upon Ronan for murdering his wife and daughter, a nod to Robert E. Howard's fantasy character Conan the Barbarian. Conan, who is known also as Conan the Conqueror and Conan the Destroyer, among other names, sought revenge after his Cimmerian tribe was massacred. The Conan stories were adapted into Marvel comic books. Jason Momoa, who played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011), was offered the role of Drax the Destroyer, but turned it down.
Nebula (Karen Gillan) is half-cyborg. Karen Gillan is best known for her breakout role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who (2005). The Doctor, the series title protagonist often fought The Daleks and The Cybermen that are evil robots.
Star-Lord's blaster is reminiscent of the ones used in Disney's The Black Hole (1979).
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden were considered to direct the film.
A critic called Suicide Squad (2016) "The new Guardians of the Galaxy".
Sean Gunn and Michael Rooker appeared in The Belko Experiment (2016), also written by James Gunn, and released several months apart from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
Peter Quill's "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" is a reference to Rahad Jackson's "My Awesome Mix Tape #6" from Boogie Nights (1997).
Cameo ―
Stan Lee: As one of the Xandarian citizens Rocket scans, while looking for a bounty. Lee got this cameo because although he did not create the Guardians of the Galaxy, he is the official co-Creator of the character Groot, along with Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
Nathan Fillion: The blue alien Groot picks up by the nostrils in the Kyln.
Lloyd Kaufman: As Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot walk into the prison, they are greeted by a row of angry inmates standing on a balcony; Kaufman is at the left of the screen, shouting "Murderer!" at Star-Lord.
Tyler Bates: The Composer appeared as a ravager pilot.
Rob Zombie: Ravager navigator. Zombie always appears in movies by James Gunn albeit in voice cameos only.
Spoilers ―
The mid-credits scene where Groot dances to "I Want You Back" was animated using footage of James Gunn dancing privately to the song.
Djimon Hounsou auditioned for the role of Drax and Lee Pace auditioned for Peter Quill (Star-Lord). Both were cast as the villains. Hounsou said that after he saw Dave Bautista, and how ripped he was, he knew why he wasn't cast, and admitted that Bautista was the perfect choice for the role.
Marks the appearance of the fourth infinity stone which is the Power stone (inside the orb Quill stole), the others being the Tesseract (space) seen in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012), the second the stone in Loki's staff (mind) in the Avengers and the post-credits scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and the third being the Aether (reality) seen in Thor: The Dark World (2013), making Power, Reality, Space, and Mind the stones whose whereabouts are known, while Time, and Soul remain unknown.
James Gunn wanted to put the dancing Groot scene at the end of the film, but decided it was too good to leave it to the end, and made it a mid-credits scene.
The crew played a prank on Dave Bautista during the dance-off scene, where Ronan was to accept the challenge ("It's on!") and dance, at which Bautista had to improvise his own dance. It was so good, that James Gunn made it as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray and DVD.
The Collector's collection includes various species: -A Chitauri from The Avengers (2012). -A Dark Elf (from Thor: The Dark World (2013). -A cocoon holding Adam Warlock, a cosmic being who became a member of the Guardians (the cocoon is seen empty in the post-credits scene). -A dog in a C.C.C.P. (former U.S.S.R.) cosmonaut suit who snarls at Rocket. This is Cosmo, a Russian dog who became a member of the Guardians (and is constantly on bad terms with Rocket). -Howard the Duck, who makes an appearance in a case. -A slime creature from James Gunn's previous film Slither (2006).
In Ronan the Accuser's first scene, when he kills the Xandarian with his hammer, the blood flows down into the pool where Ronan first awoke and is the same color as the liquid that Ronan emerged from, revealing that he sleeps fully immersed in the blood of his enemies.
There are just six Infinity Stones: Soul, Time, Mind, Space, Power, and Reality. Each one gives a special power to its protector: -Soul Stone - allows holder to manipulate, steal, control, and alter any soul (living or dead). Souls may also be captured to an inner universe called "Soul World". -Time Gem - allows total control over the past, present, and future. The Time Stone also allows holder to travel in time, change the age of living beings in any direction, and trap enemies (or even entire universes) in eternal time loops. At full potential, the Time Stone is capable of granting Omniscience. -Mind Stone - allows universal telepathy. The Mind Stone allows the holder to read and control the mind of anyone (or everyone). The Mind Stone also allows the holder to project thought to any living being of the universe. -Space Stone - grants the holder the ability to exist in any location (or all locations at one time). The holder of the Space Stone also has the ability to move any object anywhere throughout reality, rearrange space, and teleport to any place in the universe. At full potential, the Space Stone is capable of granting Omniscience. -Power Stone, allows total access to all of the power and energy in existence (this includes all power that has ever or will ever exist). The Power Stone has the ability to boost the effects of other gems, and it is capable of duplicating almost any physical superhuman ability. At full potential, the Power Stone is capable of granting omnipotence. -Reality Stone - allows the fulfillment of any wish, even if it contradicts any universal laws (ability to destroy reality with generation of a paradox).
Unlike other Marvel Cinematic Universe films, this one contains very few references to the other titles in the franchise. Amongst the few that are present, are the brief appearance of Thanos (who was teased in the The Avengers (2012) end credit scene), and the Tesseract, a.k.a. Cosmic Cube clearly visible, as one of the Infinity Stones the Collector describes.
When entering the Kyln, Quill refers to Groot as "Giving Tree", foreshadowing Groot's fate in the film. "The Giving Tree" is a 1964 book by Shel Silverstein about a tree that gives everything it can to its human friend, eventually sacrificing itself for the man, all out of friendship and love.
Howard The Duck can actually be spotted an additional time before his after-credits scene. When Quill and the rest of the team first arrive at The Collector's gallery, as The Collector turns around to face them, you can briefly see Howard sitting in his glass box in the background above and just to the right of The Collector's head.
Peter Quill learns that he is only half-human (on his mother's side). According to the comics, his father is Emperor J'son of Spartax; James Gunn has said that this is not the case in the film, but Quill's middle name is Jason, as a tribute to the comics.
In the comic book, Peter Quill was born to a human mother and an alien father and assumed his mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman. In the film, Peter Quill (Star-Lord) was born in the late 1970s or early 1980s, also to a human mother but not knowing of his father's true (alien) identity. He then gets abducted, and raised by a group of interstellar thieves and smugglers called The Ravagers.
In the backstory behind The Ravagers abducting Quill, Yondu and The Ravagers were hired by Peter's father to pick up Peter on Earth (the night Meredith Quill died) and bring Peter to his father, but they reneged.
All of the Guardians have a near death experience: Drax almost drowns, but is rescued by Groot. Gamora freezes and nearly dies in space, until Star-Lord saves her. Rocket crashes a ship through Ronan's ship, and is knocked out. Groot explodes, but grows back. Star-Lord grabs the Infinity Stone, and is shown to be in massive pain until the other Guardians help him.
Adam Warlock was featured in the screenplay as a cameo at the end of the film. This idea was cut from the script, but Adam's cocoon appeared as one of the Collector's possessions, and is shown damaged and empty in the post-credits scene.
This is Howard the Duck's second cinematic appearance, twenty-eight years and one day after Howard the Duck (1986) was released. Besides Howard's cameo, the song "Cherry Bomb" is heard during the film. Cherry Bomb was the name of Beverly's (Lea Thompson's) band in the 1986 film.
When The Collector shows a recording of previous owners of the Infinity Stones, the being who uses the Power Stone to destroy a planet, is Eson the Searcher, a Celestial that appeared in the comic book Eternals #9 in 1977.
The casting of Howard the Duck was the idea of Editor Fred Raskin. Kevin Feige loved it, James Gunn recalled, "He couldn't stop laughing every time he saw it, he was like, 'We're f*****g crazy!'"
Originally, James Gunn was to include additional scenes in the closing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" montage. This included Quill's grandfather looking into space, the Collector in his wrecked archives, and Nebula angrily stomping in a field. Only the Collector made it into the film, as a post-credits scene.
According to Kevin Feige, each Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 movie pays tribute to the Star Wars film franchise, in the form of a character who loses an arm (Anakin Skywalker lost a hand in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Luke Skywalker lost a hand in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)): -Iron Man 3 (2013) - Aldrich Killian loses an arm during the battle with Tony Stark. -Thor: The Dark World (2013) - Loki cuts off Thor's right arm on Svartalfheim. -Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Bucky lost his left arm during his fall from the train. -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Gamora cuts off Groot's arms during the group's initial scuffle on Xandar, and Nebula cuts off her own hand to get away from Gamora. -Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Ultron cuts off the right arm of Ulysses Klaue.
The orb stolen by Quill contains one of the Infinity Stones, more accurately, the Power Stone. In the 1990s comics, Drax was a member of the Infinity Watch (together with Adam Warlock, Gamora, Moondragon, and Pip the Troll). Each member of the Watch protected one of the stones: -Adam Warlock - Soul Stone. -Gamora - Time Stone. -Moondragon - Mind Stone. -Pip the Troll - Space Stone. -Drax the Destroyer - Power Stone. -Thanos - Reality Stone (secret guardian until "The Infinity Crusade").
When Nebula falls from Ronan's warship, she lands on a Nova fighter ship, punches through the windshield, and states "Get out!", forcing the unfortunate pilot to jump out. This may be a nod to the famous helicopter scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
The basic strategy the heroes employ with their spaceships (trying to hold off the enemy before he makes it to the ground) was inspired by Space Invaders (1981).
In the comic books, Groot is repeatedly regrown from a twig, and possesses the same memories and personality each time, leading fans to assume that this would be the case in the films as well. However, when the sequel to this film was released, James Gunnrevealed that Baby Groot does not possess any of the original's memories, and is actually a different being. This means that Groot did indeed die saving his comrades in this film.
Seth Green: The voice of Howard the Duck, who appeared in the Collector's laboratory in the post-credit scene.
At the end of the film, Gamora tells Drax his family could rest knowing he had avenged them, to which he replied that his true enemy and target was Thanos. This may be a nod to the comics, where Drax was a human whose family had been killed by Thanos, who had just landed on Earth. It was after this event, that Drax had devoted the rest of his life to killing Thanos.
James Gunn explained that the reason why Groot freezes when Drax catches him dancing, is because he knows Drax disapproves of it. Drax's dislike of dancing is elaborated upon in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
In the movie, Thanos is looking for the Infinity Stones. The same plot was depicted in the limited series "Thanos Quest" (published in 1990), where Thanos gets all the Stones, becoming a God.
In the climactic showdown on Xandar, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) distracts Ronan (Lee Pace) by breaking into an impromptu rendition of "O-O-H Child" by The Five Stairsteps. In The Lego Movie (2014), Emmett the hero (voiced by Pratt) distracts a colony of threatening robots by initiating a sing-along to the catchy tune "Everything is Awesome" during a crucial scene.
Throughout the film, Star-Lord almost never speaks whenever he puts on his mask. The only time he does is after Drax kills Korath, close to the end of the film, and tries using the metaphor "finger to the throat". Star-Lord then responds, "Yeah, sort of", and later, "Oh no," when a group of Sakaarans appear.
According to Go Compare, this movie holds the world record for the highest number of deaths: 83,871.
Each Marvel superhero movie has a main theme: -Iron Man (2008) and sequels - Weaponry and technology. -The Incredible Hulk (2008) - Mutation and nuclear power. -Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and sequels - Experimentation and espionage. -Thor (2011) and sequels - Mythology and religion. -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Extra-terrestrial life and cosmic beings. -Ant-Man (2015) - Telepathy and control of animals. -Doctor Strange (2016) - Magic and witchcraft. -The Avengers (2012) - Alien Invasion. -Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Artificial Intelligence.
Although Drax the Destroyer's wife and daughter were murdered by Ronan the Accuser, Corpsman Dey's wife and daughter survive Ronan's attack on Xandar, are alive and well, and are seen reuniting with Dey at the end of the movie.
In the post-credit scene, the duck with the Collector is Howard The Duck, another Marvel character.
Hodor from Game of Thrones (2011) is considered an influence behind Groot. Both characters repeatedly say the same line, and both characters sacrifice their lives to save others.
In the comic series and crossover of the late 1970s , Thanos is in search of all the Infinity Stones to appease his lover "Death", of whom he has only seen a glimpse in the story. With all of the Stones, he would destroy the entire universe for his lover, Death. He is thwarted by Adam Warlock, who is dead and trapped in the Soul Stone, and is called back to reality to stop the "mad God" Thanos. By leaving the Soul Stone, he grasps Thanos and turns him to stone, thus averting the destruction of the universe. While losing his lover "Death". In the comic world of the Soul Stone, there is a world which is inhabited by all the beings absorbed by the Stone. In it, all the enemies who have been absorbed, are friends. Gamora also has a black mask around her eyes similar to what is on an Australian Blue Heeler.
Gunn confirmed in May 2013 that Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe were being looked at for a role other then Ronan or Corpsman Dey. Given that Ronan and each of the Guardians were already cast, it is possible that they were considered for the role of Thanos. Watanabe had previously played the fake Ra'as Al Ghul in Batman Begins (2005).
James Gunn was asked on Twitter in 2016, if he had ever seen Farscape (1999), as it had some similarities in terms of character. He replied, that of all television shows, Farscape (1999) was the one that influenced Guardians the most.
The first letters of exactly half of the titles on the soundtrack anagram to "comics" or "cosmic." Marvel often uses the word "cosmic" when referring to events that take place away from Earth.
On James Gunn's official Facebook page on February 24, 2016, a member of the official page had called the film "The best science fiction film since Star Trek (2009)". Zoe Saldana (Gamora) played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura in Star Trek (2009), and Chris Pratthad auditioned for Captain James T. Kirk.
The name Ronan is a fairly popular name in Ireland. There was even a Saint Ronan who was born in Ireland and sailed to France. The name is said to mean "little seal".
This is Brendan Fehr's second appearance in a movie based on a Marvel comic. The first was X-Men: First Class (2011), in which he appeared as a Communications Officer aboard a U.S. Navy ship. Kevin Bacon, who starred in "First Class", is also mentioned prominently in this film.
Djimon Hounsou and Tomas Arana appeared in Gladiator (2000).
Sean Gunn (Kraglin, and on-set Rocket) and Gregg Henry (Grandpa) appeared on Gilmore Girls (2000). They played Kirk Gleason and Mitchum Huntzberger, respectively. Both are regularly used by James Gunn (Sean is also his brother).
Benicio Del Toro appeared in Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017) as "DJ".
In Parks and Recreation (2009) season three, episode nine, "Andy and April's Fancy Party", Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) calls himself "the luckiest man in the galaxy."
In the comics, Yondu prefers archery as a way of defense. Michael Rooker (Yondu) appeared in The Walking Dead (2010) as Merle Dixon. Merle's brother Daryl is a famed archer on the show.
Many features of modern London, England, can be seen on Xandar, including the Millenium Bridge and the buildings known as the Shard and the Gerkin.
Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, Groot, and Yondu are all characters in the video game, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2014).
This is the second Marvel movie of 2014 to have a a montage near the end of the film set to a Marvin Gaye song. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), it's the song "Trouble Man"; in this movie, it's the song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
On the Blu-ray version of the film, the main menu shows Quill's tape player on the Milano. Three "trading cards" are tucked into the left side of the player, two on the right. The ones on the left are Rocket, Drax, and Groot (in that order, top to bottom), while the ones on the right are Gamora and Star-Lord. The three on the left are shots from when the Guardians were booked on Xandar, while on the right, Gamora is shown from a scene near the end of the film when they're hunting Ronan, and the shot of Star-Lord is from the beginning of the film, when he's on Morag looking for the orb.
The film takes place in 1988 and 2014.
Was nominated for the Golden Schmoes Award for "Most Overrated Movie of the Year" (2014), but lost out to American Sniper (2014), which also starred Bradley Cooper.
The film establishes the Marvel Cosmic Universe, films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that take place in outer space.
Before she was announced to play Nebula. Karen Gillan had been rumored play a sword-wielding bounty hunter called Angela from the "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic book, who is like "Red Sonja in space" because she has red hair, wears a gold bikini and wields a sword. The character of Red Sonja, who appeared in Marvel comic books created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, was known for having red hair, wearing a bikini, and fighting with a sword.
Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is an expert marksman and sniper. Cooper also played an expert marksman and sniper in American Sniper (2014).
The word "groot" appears in James Joyce's novel "Finnegan's Wake".
This film features two of five Doctor Who (2005) stars to have roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Karen Gillan and Peter Serafinowicz were in the series, as well as Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World (2013)) and Toby Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) (which also included Jenna Coleman) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)).
Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel, and Dave Bautista have worked with Katee Sackhoff, known for playing Kara Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica (2004). Karen Gillan starred opposite Katee Sackhoff in Oculus (2013); and Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista starred opposite Katee in Riddick (2013).
On August 14, 2017, over three years after the film's release, Karen Gillan admitted in an interview that she would like to join the cinematic DC comic book as the female incarnation of The Joker.
Chris Pratt starred in Parks and Recreation (2009), in which his character goes to London to work for Peter Serafinowicz (Denarian Saal). The movie was filmed in London as well.
John C. Reilly and Michael Rooker appeared in Days of Thunder (1990).
The third collaboration between James Gunn and his regulars, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Rob Zombie, and Nathan Fillion. Gunn has directed them in Slither (2006), and Super (2010), which was also a superhero film. Lloyd Kaufman appeared in all three films, but he and Sean Gunn collaborated with James Gunn on several earlier projects.
The story begins with the young and future Star-Lord on Earth in 1988. Though there is likely no connection, there was a PC video game issued in 1987 called "Star Lord" by SoftBook.
James Gunn wanted to use the song "Top of the World" by Greek Fire (Tommy Drake) a rock band from his native St. Louis, in the film, but ultimately nixed the idea in favor of an all-1970s soundtrack. The song appeared in trailers for Big Hero 6 (2014).
John C. Reilly's reference to a "code name" when he captures "Star-Prince" is a sort of inside joke about his and Will Farrell's code names in the movie Step Brothers (2008).
Drax is called "Drax the Destroyer" because he slays Ronan the Accuser's cohorts, as he seeks revenge upon Ronan for murdering his wife and daughter, a nod to Robert E. Howard's fantasy character Conan the Barbarian. Conan, who is known also as Conan the Conqueror and Conan the Destroyer, among other names, sought revenge after his Cimmerian tribe was massacred. The Conan stories were adapted into Marvel comic books. Jason Momoa, who played Conan in Conan the Barbarian (2011), was offered the role of Drax the Destroyer, but turned it down.
Nebula (Karen Gillan) is half-cyborg. Karen Gillan is best known for her breakout role as Amy Pond in Doctor Who (2005). The Doctor, the series title protagonist often fought The Daleks and The Cybermen that are evil robots.
Star-Lord's blaster is reminiscent of the ones used in Disney's The Black Hole (1979).
Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden were considered to direct the film.
A critic called Suicide Squad (2016) "The new Guardians of the Galaxy".
Sean Gunn and Michael Rooker appeared in The Belko Experiment (2016), also written by James Gunn, and released several months apart from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
Peter Quill's "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" is a reference to Rahad Jackson's "My Awesome Mix Tape #6" from Boogie Nights (1997).
Cameo ―
Stan Lee: As one of the Xandarian citizens Rocket scans, while looking for a bounty. Lee got this cameo because although he did not create the Guardians of the Galaxy, he is the official co-Creator of the character Groot, along with Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers.
Nathan Fillion: The blue alien Groot picks up by the nostrils in the Kyln.
Lloyd Kaufman: As Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot walk into the prison, they are greeted by a row of angry inmates standing on a balcony; Kaufman is at the left of the screen, shouting "Murderer!" at Star-Lord.
Tyler Bates: The Composer appeared as a ravager pilot.
Rob Zombie: Ravager navigator. Zombie always appears in movies by James Gunn albeit in voice cameos only.
Spoilers ―
The mid-credits scene where Groot dances to "I Want You Back" was animated using footage of James Gunn dancing privately to the song.
Djimon Hounsou auditioned for the role of Drax and Lee Pace auditioned for Peter Quill (Star-Lord). Both were cast as the villains. Hounsou said that after he saw Dave Bautista, and how ripped he was, he knew why he wasn't cast, and admitted that Bautista was the perfect choice for the role.
Marks the appearance of the fourth infinity stone which is the Power stone (inside the orb Quill stole), the others being the Tesseract (space) seen in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and The Avengers (2012), the second the stone in Loki's staff (mind) in the Avengers and the post-credits scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and the third being the Aether (reality) seen in Thor: The Dark World (2013), making Power, Reality, Space, and Mind the stones whose whereabouts are known, while Time, and Soul remain unknown.
James Gunn wanted to put the dancing Groot scene at the end of the film, but decided it was too good to leave it to the end, and made it a mid-credits scene.
The crew played a prank on Dave Bautista during the dance-off scene, where Ronan was to accept the challenge ("It's on!") and dance, at which Bautista had to improvise his own dance. It was so good, that James Gunn made it as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray and DVD.
The Collector's collection includes various species: -A Chitauri from The Avengers (2012). -A Dark Elf (from Thor: The Dark World (2013). -A cocoon holding Adam Warlock, a cosmic being who became a member of the Guardians (the cocoon is seen empty in the post-credits scene). -A dog in a C.C.C.P. (former U.S.S.R.) cosmonaut suit who snarls at Rocket. This is Cosmo, a Russian dog who became a member of the Guardians (and is constantly on bad terms with Rocket). -Howard the Duck, who makes an appearance in a case. -A slime creature from James Gunn's previous film Slither (2006).
In Ronan the Accuser's first scene, when he kills the Xandarian with his hammer, the blood flows down into the pool where Ronan first awoke and is the same color as the liquid that Ronan emerged from, revealing that he sleeps fully immersed in the blood of his enemies.
There are just six Infinity Stones: Soul, Time, Mind, Space, Power, and Reality. Each one gives a special power to its protector: -Soul Stone - allows holder to manipulate, steal, control, and alter any soul (living or dead). Souls may also be captured to an inner universe called "Soul World". -Time Gem - allows total control over the past, present, and future. The Time Stone also allows holder to travel in time, change the age of living beings in any direction, and trap enemies (or even entire universes) in eternal time loops. At full potential, the Time Stone is capable of granting Omniscience. -Mind Stone - allows universal telepathy. The Mind Stone allows the holder to read and control the mind of anyone (or everyone). The Mind Stone also allows the holder to project thought to any living being of the universe. -Space Stone - grants the holder the ability to exist in any location (or all locations at one time). The holder of the Space Stone also has the ability to move any object anywhere throughout reality, rearrange space, and teleport to any place in the universe. At full potential, the Space Stone is capable of granting Omniscience. -Power Stone, allows total access to all of the power and energy in existence (this includes all power that has ever or will ever exist). The Power Stone has the ability to boost the effects of other gems, and it is capable of duplicating almost any physical superhuman ability. At full potential, the Power Stone is capable of granting omnipotence. -Reality Stone - allows the fulfillment of any wish, even if it contradicts any universal laws (ability to destroy reality with generation of a paradox).
Unlike other Marvel Cinematic Universe films, this one contains very few references to the other titles in the franchise. Amongst the few that are present, are the brief appearance of Thanos (who was teased in the The Avengers (2012) end credit scene), and the Tesseract, a.k.a. Cosmic Cube clearly visible, as one of the Infinity Stones the Collector describes.
When entering the Kyln, Quill refers to Groot as "Giving Tree", foreshadowing Groot's fate in the film. "The Giving Tree" is a 1964 book by Shel Silverstein about a tree that gives everything it can to its human friend, eventually sacrificing itself for the man, all out of friendship and love.
Howard The Duck can actually be spotted an additional time before his after-credits scene. When Quill and the rest of the team first arrive at The Collector's gallery, as The Collector turns around to face them, you can briefly see Howard sitting in his glass box in the background above and just to the right of The Collector's head.
Peter Quill learns that he is only half-human (on his mother's side). According to the comics, his father is Emperor J'son of Spartax; James Gunn has said that this is not the case in the film, but Quill's middle name is Jason, as a tribute to the comics.
In the comic book, Peter Quill was born to a human mother and an alien father and assumed his mantle of Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman. In the film, Peter Quill (Star-Lord) was born in the late 1970s or early 1980s, also to a human mother but not knowing of his father's true (alien) identity. He then gets abducted, and raised by a group of interstellar thieves and smugglers called The Ravagers.
In the backstory behind The Ravagers abducting Quill, Yondu and The Ravagers were hired by Peter's father to pick up Peter on Earth (the night Meredith Quill died) and bring Peter to his father, but they reneged.
All of the Guardians have a near death experience: Drax almost drowns, but is rescued by Groot. Gamora freezes and nearly dies in space, until Star-Lord saves her. Rocket crashes a ship through Ronan's ship, and is knocked out. Groot explodes, but grows back. Star-Lord grabs the Infinity Stone, and is shown to be in massive pain until the other Guardians help him.
Adam Warlock was featured in the screenplay as a cameo at the end of the film. This idea was cut from the script, but Adam's cocoon appeared as one of the Collector's possessions, and is shown damaged and empty in the post-credits scene.
This is Howard the Duck's second cinematic appearance, twenty-eight years and one day after Howard the Duck (1986) was released. Besides Howard's cameo, the song "Cherry Bomb" is heard during the film. Cherry Bomb was the name of Beverly's (Lea Thompson's) band in the 1986 film.
When The Collector shows a recording of previous owners of the Infinity Stones, the being who uses the Power Stone to destroy a planet, is Eson the Searcher, a Celestial that appeared in the comic book Eternals #9 in 1977.
The casting of Howard the Duck was the idea of Editor Fred Raskin. Kevin Feige loved it, James Gunn recalled, "He couldn't stop laughing every time he saw it, he was like, 'We're f*****g crazy!'"
Originally, James Gunn was to include additional scenes in the closing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" montage. This included Quill's grandfather looking into space, the Collector in his wrecked archives, and Nebula angrily stomping in a field. Only the Collector made it into the film, as a post-credits scene.
According to Kevin Feige, each Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 movie pays tribute to the Star Wars film franchise, in the form of a character who loses an arm (Anakin Skywalker lost a hand in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) and Luke Skywalker lost a hand in Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)): -Iron Man 3 (2013) - Aldrich Killian loses an arm during the battle with Tony Stark. -Thor: The Dark World (2013) - Loki cuts off Thor's right arm on Svartalfheim. -Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) - Bucky lost his left arm during his fall from the train. -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Gamora cuts off Groot's arms during the group's initial scuffle on Xandar, and Nebula cuts off her own hand to get away from Gamora. -Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Ultron cuts off the right arm of Ulysses Klaue.
The orb stolen by Quill contains one of the Infinity Stones, more accurately, the Power Stone. In the 1990s comics, Drax was a member of the Infinity Watch (together with Adam Warlock, Gamora, Moondragon, and Pip the Troll). Each member of the Watch protected one of the stones: -Adam Warlock - Soul Stone. -Gamora - Time Stone. -Moondragon - Mind Stone. -Pip the Troll - Space Stone. -Drax the Destroyer - Power Stone. -Thanos - Reality Stone (secret guardian until "The Infinity Crusade").
When Nebula falls from Ronan's warship, she lands on a Nova fighter ship, punches through the windshield, and states "Get out!", forcing the unfortunate pilot to jump out. This may be a nod to the famous helicopter scene in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).
The basic strategy the heroes employ with their spaceships (trying to hold off the enemy before he makes it to the ground) was inspired by Space Invaders (1981).
In the comic books, Groot is repeatedly regrown from a twig, and possesses the same memories and personality each time, leading fans to assume that this would be the case in the films as well. However, when the sequel to this film was released, James Gunnrevealed that Baby Groot does not possess any of the original's memories, and is actually a different being. This means that Groot did indeed die saving his comrades in this film.
Seth Green: The voice of Howard the Duck, who appeared in the Collector's laboratory in the post-credit scene.
At the end of the film, Gamora tells Drax his family could rest knowing he had avenged them, to which he replied that his true enemy and target was Thanos. This may be a nod to the comics, where Drax was a human whose family had been killed by Thanos, who had just landed on Earth. It was after this event, that Drax had devoted the rest of his life to killing Thanos.
James Gunn explained that the reason why Groot freezes when Drax catches him dancing, is because he knows Drax disapproves of it. Drax's dislike of dancing is elaborated upon in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
In the movie, Thanos is looking for the Infinity Stones. The same plot was depicted in the limited series "Thanos Quest" (published in 1990), where Thanos gets all the Stones, becoming a God.
In the climactic showdown on Xandar, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) distracts Ronan (Lee Pace) by breaking into an impromptu rendition of "O-O-H Child" by The Five Stairsteps. In The Lego Movie (2014), Emmett the hero (voiced by Pratt) distracts a colony of threatening robots by initiating a sing-along to the catchy tune "Everything is Awesome" during a crucial scene.
Throughout the film, Star-Lord almost never speaks whenever he puts on his mask. The only time he does is after Drax kills Korath, close to the end of the film, and tries using the metaphor "finger to the throat". Star-Lord then responds, "Yeah, sort of", and later, "Oh no," when a group of Sakaarans appear.
According to Go Compare, this movie holds the world record for the highest number of deaths: 83,871.
Each Marvel superhero movie has a main theme: -Iron Man (2008) and sequels - Weaponry and technology. -The Incredible Hulk (2008) - Mutation and nuclear power. -Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and sequels - Experimentation and espionage. -Thor (2011) and sequels - Mythology and religion. -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Extra-terrestrial life and cosmic beings. -Ant-Man (2015) - Telepathy and control of animals. -Doctor Strange (2016) - Magic and witchcraft. -The Avengers (2012) - Alien Invasion. -Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Artificial Intelligence.
Although Drax the Destroyer's wife and daughter were murdered by Ronan the Accuser, Corpsman Dey's wife and daughter survive Ronan's attack on Xandar, are alive and well, and are seen reuniting with Dey at the end of the movie.
In the post-credit scene, the duck with the Collector is Howard The Duck, another Marvel character.
Hodor from Game of Thrones (2011) is considered an influence behind Groot. Both characters repeatedly say the same line, and both characters sacrifice their lives to save others.
In the comic series and crossover of the late 1970s , Thanos is in search of all the Infinity Stones to appease his lover "Death", of whom he has only seen a glimpse in the story. With all of the Stones, he would destroy the entire universe for his lover, Death. He is thwarted by Adam Warlock, who is dead and trapped in the Soul Stone, and is called back to reality to stop the "mad God" Thanos. By leaving the Soul Stone, he grasps Thanos and turns him to stone, thus averting the destruction of the universe. While losing his lover "Death". In the comic world of the Soul Stone, there is a world which is inhabited by all the beings absorbed by the Stone. In it, all the enemies who have been absorbed, are friends. Gamora also has a black mask around her eyes similar to what is on an Australian Blue Heeler.
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