Comic Con 2013: Guardians Of The Galaxy Gets New Concept Art & Cast Details

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy have been revealed in new concept art at Comic Con.

Marvel Studios has proven themselves worth paying attention to, but Guardians of the Galaxy is the movie I’m most keen on.  The combination of straight up sci-fi in the story and characters, the great cast and the inclusion of the phenomenal James Gunn in the director’s chair make this a movie that could really stand out, even among such outstanding popcorn movie legends as The Avengers and Iron-Man.

Despite not being billed ahead of time, it came as little surprise that Guardians of the Galaxy had a presentation when Marvel Studios took over Hall H at Comic Con, and they also revealed some new character art of our core team– Starlord, Drax, Gamora, Groot and Rocket Racoon– via a poster giveaway at the Marvel booth on the floor.

The panel itself featured not only the core team but the likes of Benicio Del Toro (The Collector), Lee Pace (Ronan the Accuser), Michael Rooker (Yondu), a bald Karen Gillan (Nebula) and Djimon Hounsou (Korath).  Despite only starting the shoot a few weeks ago, Gunn also had a clip from the movie to share, which channeled the perfect offbeat, dark comedy the director excels at, which a movie this strange requires.

Based on the quick clip, the tone of the film feels just right to massage suspension of disbelief to these fantastic levels (even in a universe of Asgardian Gods and super soldier and men in high tech armor), and there’s a subversive streak that adds a charm to the heroes.  The Guardians of the Galaxy aren’t exactly The Avengers– they first team up when they’re all locked up in space prison, apparently, and they end up bestowing the team name on themselves, like a true collection of self important a-holes.

Chris Pratt nails each scene he’s in of the trailer, and having him in the lead role is still the most exciting part of this movie.  He radiates charm in everything he does, and I’m totally happy to see him land a gig of this magnitude.  I think this one will make him a major star, as he stands out even amidst big names like Benicio Del Toro and Glenn Close.

Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it will be the weirdest Marvel movie by far, and that just makes me want to see it even more– when telling a story this far outside mainstream super hero movies, you need to just dive in head first and let the bizarre nature of the universe go crazy.  It looks like James Gunn has managed to do just that, and I can’t wait to see what he crafts out of this madness.

Check out the new image above, and the official press release for the film below, via Marvel.com:

“Guardians of the Galaxy,” the next epic adventure from Marvel Studios has started shooting at the UK’s Shepperton Studios.  Directed by James Gunn (“Slither,” “Super”) from his screenplay, with a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn, the film will introduce audiences to a whole new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The all-star cast includes Chris Pratt (“Zero Dark Thirty”, “Moneyball”) as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana (“Star Trek Into Darkness”, “Avatar”) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (“Riddick”) as Drax the Destroyer, Lee Pace (“The Hobbit,” “Lincoln”) as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker (AMC’s “The Walking Dead”) as Yondu, Karen Gillan (BBC TV’s “Doctor Who”) as Nebula, two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou (“Amistad”, “Gladiator”) as Korath, with Academy Award® winner Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”) as The Collector,  Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly (“Chicago”) as Rhomann Dey, and six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close (“Albert Nobbs,” “Fatal Attraction”) as Nova Prime. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is slated for an August 1, 2014 release in the U.S.

Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing the film.  The executive producers are Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Alan Fine and Stan Lee; the co-producer is Nik Korda.

The creative team includes director of photography Ben Davis, BSC (“Wrath of the Titans”, “Kick-Ass”), production designer Charles Wood (“Thor: The Dark World”), BAFTA-nominated Editor Fred Raskin (“Django Unchained,” “Fast Five”) and Academy Award-winning editor Hughes Winborne, A.C.E. (“The Help,” “Crash”), and Academy Award winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Elizabeth The Golden Age”).  The film will also shoot at Longcross Studios, and locations in and around London.