The Guardians were an obscure group from Marvel comics, and the group didn’t even have a consistent group of members. Would “Guardians of the Galaxy” work? Well, it’s not a spoiler to say yes, very much so.
Here are 10 facts you might not know about the first Guardians of the Galaxy film.
Many actors were up for Star-Lord
Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, is the ostensible lead of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Naturally, a lot of actors were considered for the role. Some notable names considered were Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Zachary Levi, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Glenn Howerton, of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” fame, was reportedly the second choice for the role.
Gunn wanted to use practical effects
Movies like this can be a CGI extravaganza, but Gunn wanted to avoid that as much as possible. He made the effort to use as many practical effects as possible, including building that whole prison set, which reportedly weighs 350,000 pounds.
James Gunn beat out a couple other future Marvel directors for the gig
Gunn was a bit of a surprising choice to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy,” given that he had spent a lot of his career on violent, raunchy comedies. Several names were considered for the directorial gig, including some future Marvel directors. Peyton Reed would end up on the “Ant-Man” films, while Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directed “Captain Marvel.”
Vin Diesel took his role seriously
Diesel voices Groot, the living tree. He can, notably, only say “I am Groot,” though when he says it he means different things. To that end, Diesel didn’t merely get in the recording studio and say “I am Groot” a few times. He asked Gunn for his character’s motivation before every different “I am Groot” reading, and he said it for every time he says it in the film.
Two different people play Rocket Raccoon
Bradley Cooper voices Rocket Raccoon, and reportedly some of his mannerisms were used for the movie as well. However, the physical performance of Rocket primarily fell on another actor. That would be Sean Gunn, the brother of James Gunn. Sean stood in for Rocket while filming for the other actors, and he also played Kraglin, Yondu’s first mate.
The director did a little more performing as well
Right before the credits, Baby Groot breaks into some dance moves. It was actually Gunn himself who did that dancing as a reference for the animators. Baby Groot’s moves are based on Gunn’s.
The script (sort of) started a few years earlier
“Guardians of the Galaxy” as a project began in 2009 with Nicole Perlman. She was in Marvel’s screenwriting program and was asked if there was any Marvel property she’d want to take a crack at. Perlman chose “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which surprised just about everybody. After a few drafts, the project was passed on to Gunn. Now, Gunn has said that he basically threw Perlman’s entire script out and started anew, but due to WGA rules, Perlman is still credited alongside Gunn.
One actor who tried out for Star-Lord ended up in another role
Also, trying out for the role of Quill? That would be Lee Pace. While he didn’t get to be Star-Lord, he did end up cast as Ronan the Accuser, the villain of “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
Zoe Saldana was not the first choice either
Gunn had trouble landing on who he wanted for the role of Star-Lord, but he did have somebody in mind for Gamora. That would be Amanda Seyfried. However, Seyfried turned the movie down, not wanting to spend all that time in makeup. This opened the door for Saldana, who joked that she had been blue before (in “Avatar”) so this was her chance to be green.
This is also the first appearance of Thanos (sort of )
Thanos is the overarching villain of the first stretch of the MCU. When he first showed up, though, they hadn’t quite locked in on the Mad Titan. He’s portrayed, uncredited, by Damion Poitier in an uncredited cameo. This movie is the first time Thanos is really a character in the MCU, and also the first time he’s played by Josh Brolin.