The movie is on Blu-Ray now, BUY IT!
Eh, it's been long enough. You can use the Spoiler Thread if you want, but it's not necessary at this point.
Based On: Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 2) by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Director: James Gunn
Writers: Nicole Perlman (Initial Draft), Chris McCoy (First Rewrite That James Gunn Scrapped), & James Gunn (All Other Rewrites)
Composer: Tyler Bates
Official Synopsis: From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team--the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits--Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon; Groot, a tree-like humanoid; the deadly and enigmatic Gamora; and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand--with the galaxy's fate in the balance.
Fun Fact: At least according to the Latino Review leak that revealed the existance of this movie before it's official reveal at San Diego Comic Con 2012, Nicole Perlman was fresh out of Disney's new writers program, & was initially tasked with making a Black Widow script (which was assumed to be used in Phase 2 on August 1st, the slot that now belongs to GotG). For an unknown reason, she ended up writing a Guardians script alongside the Black Widow script (I personally like to think that Nicole was a huge fan of DnA's run of GotG). When Nicole Perlman presented both scripts to Marvel, they liked her Guardians script so much, they scrapped whatever plans they had for a solo Black Widow movie & stuck Guardians in that slot. Though all was not lost for the super-spy Avenger, as a good chunk of what was the Black Widow script was injected into Winter Soldier which made Natasha more prominent in said movie.
Main Characters
Peter Jason Quill, A.K.A. Star-Lord
Actor: Chris Pratt
The leader of the Guardians who was abducted from Missouri as a child in the mid-1980's and raised by a group of thieves and smugglers called The Ravagers. About the character, Pratt said, "He had a hard time as a kid, and now he goes around space, making out with hot alien girls and just being a rogue and a bit of a jerk, and through teaming up with these guys, finds a higher purpose for himself". Chris Pratt also described Star-Lord as being a mix of Han Solo and Marty McFly.
Gamora
Actress: Zoe Saldana
Also described as "The Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy" (or Universe, depending on who you ask), Gamora is the last surviving member of the Zehoberi race who was trained by her adoptive father, Thanos, to be his personal assassin and seeks redemption from her past crimes. Zoe Saldana described Gamora as "...a warrior, she’s an assassin and she’s very lethal but what saves her is the same thing that can doom her. She has a sense of righteousness. She’s a very righteous individual."
Drax the Destroyer
Actor: Dave Bautista
A warrior in search of vengeance against Ronan after his family is killed. On relating to the character, Bautista said, "I can just relate to Drax so much it's not even funny. Just the simple things that we have in common. Simple things like the tattoos, the tragedy – because you know, I had a bit of tragedy in my life as well. So it's really easy for me to pull from that." Bautista also said that there is "a lot of comic relief to Drax", but the character was not aware of it. Drax has various scarring patterns on his body, which replace the simple tattoos from the comics, with each having a specific story, while his skin tone was changed from a bright green in the comics, to a muddier grey, to avoid being too "Hulk-esque".
Rocket
Voice Actor: Bradley Cooper
On-Set Stand-In Actor: Sean Gunn
A genetically & cybernetically engineered raccoon-like lower lifeform who is a bounty hunter and mercenary and is a master of weapons and battle tactics. Gunn explicitly said that Rocket was "not a cartoon character," & that "it's not Bugs Bunny in the middle of The Avengers, it's a real, little, somewhat mangled beast that's alone. There's no one else in the universe quite like him, he's been created by these guys to be a mean-ass fighting machine." Describing Rocket in relation to the rest of the Guardians, Cooper said, "I think Rocket is dynamic. He's the sort of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas guy."
Groot
Voice Actor: Vin Diesel
On-Set Stand-In Actor: Krystian Godlewski
A tree-like humanoid who is Rocket's accomplice. About Groot, Gunn said, "All the Guardians start out the movie as bastards – except Groot. He's an innocent. He's a hundred percent deadly and a hundred percent sweet. He's caught up in Rocket's life, really." Groot also has the ability to change his size at will, & even regenerate from even the smallest splinter.
Ronan the Accuser
Actor: Lee Pace
A Kree radical who agrees to retrieve an artifact for Thanos in exchange for eradicating his mortal enemies, the Xandarians. Ronan and his army of Sakaarans hunt down the Guardians when they interfere with his goals. Describing Ronan, Gunn said, "He is the primary villain, and he is a really twisted guy, he has a really religious bent in this film. He has a very sick and twisted view of what morality is; strength is virtue and weakness is sin and that is what he lives by, and I think he is very scary because of his beliefs, which are real to him." Pace described Ronan as a "psycho" and a "monster". At the same time, Lee also said that Ronan is a complicated Kree, stating that he isn't entirely bad, & that he's just fighting for the glory of the Kree race.
Nebula
Actress: Karen Gillan
An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised together with Gamora as siblings and is a loyal lieutenant in Ronan and Thanos’ employ. About the character, Gillan said, "She is the female villain of the film. She teams up with Lee Pace who is the male villain. She is very sadistic and evil, but I like to think for a very valid reason." She also added, "I think she's a really interesting character. What I like to play around with is how jealous she is. She's Gamora's sister (both were adopted by Thanos), and there's a lot of sibling rivalry. That's the most interesting aspect to me, because jealously can consume you and turn you bitter, and ugly. And she's a total sadist, so that's fun too." James Gunn pretty much described Nebula as being the Clint Eastwood of the movie.
Korath the Pursuer
Actor: Djimon Hounsou
The character who coined the tagline of the OT & the title of the Character Section of this thread, Korath is an ally to Ronan who is a feared intergalactic hunter (hence the Pursuer part of his name).
Yondu Udonta
Actor: Michael Rooker
A blue-skinned bandit who is the leader of the Ravagers and a paternal figure to Quill. Yondu helps Quill to steal the orb before Quill betrays him, leaving Yondu and the Ravagers to chase the Guardians. On the character, Rooker said, he has "some interesting issues–not a good guy, not a bad guy. There's hope and there's a heart inside Yondu."
Thanos
Voice Actor: Josh Brolin
On-Set Stand-In Actor: Sean Gunn
The Mad Titan & adoptive father of Gamora & Nebula, he's pretty much been described as the Palpatine of this movie. He's the biggest player in the hunt for the Infinity Stones. He doesn't have a major role, but he's in a few scenes, & will play a larger role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as time goes on. He basically serves as the main connection between the Guardians & the rest of the MCU. Thanos is who Ronan bargains with in exchange for help in destroying Xandar.
Taneleer Tivan, A.K.A. The Collector
Actor: Benicio del Toro
An obsessive keeper of the largest collection of interstellar fauna, relics and species in the galaxy who operates out of a place in space named Knowhere (the head of a decapitated Celestial, in case anyone's wondering) Describing del Toro's performance, James Gunn said that "He's like an outer-space Liberace." The Collector was also in the post-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World, making him act as another connection between Guardians & the rest of the MCU.
Rhomann Dey
Actor: John C. Reilly
A corpsman in the Nova Corps, the planet Xandar’s military force.
Nova Prime Irani Rael
Actress: Glenn Close
The leader of the Nova Corps whose mission is to protect the citizens of Xandar and keep peace.
Kraglin
Actor: Sean Gunn
Yondu's first mate in the Ravagers, & frenemy of Peter Quill.
Other Characters
- Ophelia Lovibond plays Carina, The Collector's aide
- Peter Serafinowicz plays Garthan Saal
- Laura Haddock plays Meredith Quill, Peter Quill's mother
- Mikaela Hoover plays Nova Prime Irani Rael's assistant
- Tyler Bates plays a Ravenger pilot
- Gregg Henry plays Peter Quill's grandfather
- Stephen Blackehart, Emmett J. Scanlan, Marama Corlett, Alexis Rodney, Melia Kreiling, and Spencer Wilding have been cast in unspecified supporting roles
- Stan Lee, Lloyd Kaufman and Nathan Fillion will have cameos in the film
- James Gunn is a couple of the Sakaraan soldiers, mainly one of the ones on Morag & the one who confronts Yondu on Xandar.
- Seth Green voices Howard the Duck in the post-credits scene
UK, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, Ireland, Israel, South Korea, Macedonia, Philippines, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia: July 31, 2014
USA, Canada, Mexico, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Turkey, Vietnam: August 1, 2014
Australia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal: August 7, 2014
India: August 8, 2014
Belgium, France: August 13, 2014
Argentina, Spain, Hungary, Netherlands: August 14, 2014
Germany: August 28, 2014
Greece: September 4, 2014
Japan: September 13, 2014
Italy: October 22, 2014
Click on the thumbnail to watch the full video. And before you ask, yes, I realize that Marvel never posted TV Spot 3. I have a thumbnail just in case they do, so don't worry.
The Actual Galaxy Getaways Viral Site
Click on the thumbnail for a high-res version of the poster.
Funko Pop Vinyl Bobble-Heads
Disney Infinity 2.0
All Other Merchandise
And some AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON avatars, just because Quick is a nice guy.
I'll update the OP with more avatars if Quick (or anyone else) sends anymore in.
I'D LIKE TO GIVE A HUGE GALACTIC-SIZED THANKS TO (BASED) QUICK FOR ALL OF THE VISUALS, THUMBNAILS, & A MAJORITY OF AVATARS. YOU ROCK, MAN!
Also thanks to glaurung for the Lego avatars, & whatsinaname for the countdown.
