Guardians of the Galaxy (retroactively referred to as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1)[4][5] is a 2014 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 10th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by James Gunn, who wrote the screenplay with Nicole Perlman, it features an ensemble cast including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaa, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper as the titular Guardians, along with Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, and Benicio del Toro. In the film, Peter Quill (Pratt) and a group of extraterrestrial criminals go on the run after stealing a powerful artifact.
Perlman began working on the screenplay in 2009. Producer Kevin Feige first publicly mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film in 2010 and Marvel Studios announced it was in active development at the July 2012 San Diego Comic-Con. Gunn was hired to write and direct the film that September. In February 2013, Pratt was hired to play Peter Quill / Star-Lord, and the supporting cast members were subsequently confirmed. Principal photography began in July 2013 at Shepperton Studios in England, with filming continuing in London before wrapping in October 2013. In addition to an original score by Tyler Bates, the soundtrack includes several popular songs from the 1960s and 1970s chosen by Gunn. Post-production was completed on July 7, 2014.
In 1988, following his mother's death, the child Peter Quill is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers, a group of alien thieves and smugglers led by Yondu Udonta. In 2014, on the abandoned planet Morag, Quill steals a mysterious Orb but is attacked by the fanatical Kree renegade Ronan the Accuser, led by Korath. Although Quill escapes with the Orb, Yondu discovers his theft and issues a bounty for his capture, while Ronan sends the assassin Gamora after the Orb.
When Quill attempts to sell the Orb on Xandar, the capital of the Nova Empire, Gamora ambushes him and steals it. A fight ensues, drawing in a pair of bounty hunters: the genetically and cybernetically modified raccoon Rocket and the tree-like humanoid Groot. Nova Corps officers capture the four, detaining them in the Kyln prison. An inmate, Drax the Destroyer, attempts to kill Gamora due to her association with Ronan, who killed his wife and daughter. Quill convinces Drax that Gamora can bring Ronan to him, though Gamora reveals that she has betrayed Ronan, unwilling to let him use the Orb's power. Learning that Gamora intends to sell the Orb to the Collector Taneleer Tivan, Quill, Rocket, Groot, and Drax work together to escape the Kyln in Quill's ship, the Milano.
Ronan meets with Gamora's adoptive father, Thanos, to discuss her betrayal. Quill's group flees to Knowhere. A drunken Drax summons Ronan while the rest of the group meets Tivan. Tivan opens the Orb, revealing an Infinity Stone, an item of immeasurable power that destroys all but the most powerful beings who wield it. Tivan's slave, Carina, grabs the Stone, triggering an explosion that engulfs Tivan's collection. Ronan arrives and easily defeats Drax, while the others flee by ship, pursued by Ronan's followers, including Gamora's adoptive sister Nebula. Nebula destroys Gamora's ship, leaving her floating in space, and Ronan's fighters capture the Orb.
Quill contacts Yondu before following Gamora into space, giving her his helmet to survive; Yondu arrives and retrieves the pair. Rocket, Drax, and Groot threaten to attack Yondu's ship to rescue them, but Quill negotiates a truce, promising the Orb to Yondu. Quill's group agrees that facing Ronan means certain death but that they cannot let him use the Infinity Stone to destroy the galaxy. On Ronan's flagship, the Dark Aster, Ronan embeds the Stone in his warhammer, taking its power for himself. He contacts Thanos, threatening to kill him after first destroying Xandar. Hateful of her adoptive father, Nebula allies with Ronan.
The Ravagers and Quill's group join the Nova Corps to confront the Dark Aster at Xandar, with Quill's group breaching the warship with the Milano. Ronan uses his empowered warhammer to destroy the Nova Corps fleet. Drax kills Korath, and Gamora defeats Nebula, who escapes. However, the group finds themselves outmatched by Ronan's power. Rocket crashes a Ravager ship through the Dark Aster. The damaged Dark Aster crash-lands on Xandar, with Groot sacrificing himself to shield the group. Ronan emerges from the wreck and prepares to destroy Xandar, but Quill distracts him, allowing Drax and Rocket to destroy Ronan's warhammer. Quill grabs the freed Stone, and with Gamora, Drax, and Rocket sharing its burden, uses it to vaporize Ronan.
Quill gives Yondu a container supposedly containing the Stone and gives the real one to the Nova Corps. As the Ravagers leave Xandar, Yondu remarks that it turned out well that they did not deliver Quill to his father per their contract. Quill's group, now known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, has their criminal records expunged, and Quill learns that he is only half-human, his father being part of an ancient, unknown species. Quill finally opens the last present he received from his mother, a cassette tape filled with her favorite songs. The Guardians leave in the rebuilt Milano along with a potted sapling cut from Groot, which grows into a baby version of him.
Additionally, Josh Brolin appears, uncredited, as Thanos through voice acting and performance capture, taking over the role from Damion Poitier.[67][68][69] Sean Gunn stood in for Thanos during filming and portrays Kraglin Obfonteri, Yondu's first mate in the Ravagers.[30] Alexis Denisof reprises his role as Thanos' vizier, "the Other", from The Avengers (2012).[70] Ophelia Lovibond plays Carina, the Collector's slave;[71][72] Peter Serafinowicz plays Denarian Garthan Saal, a Nova Corps officer;[73][74] Gregg Henry plays Quill's grandfather;[75] Laura Haddock plays Quill's mother, Meredith;[74][76] Melia Kreiling plays Bereet;[77] Christopher Fairbank plays The Broker;[78] Mikaela Hoover plays Nova Prime's assistant;[79] Marama Corlett plays a pit boss at the bar, The Boot;[80] Emmett J. Scanlan plays a Nova riot guard;[81][82] Alexis Rodney plays Moloka Dar;[83][84] Tom Proctor plays Horuz, a Ravager;[85] and Spencer Wilding plays a prison guard who confiscates Quill's Walkman.[83][86] Canine actor Fred appears as Cosmo.[6] Stephen Blackehart had a supporting role.[87] Naomi Ryan also had a supporting role in the film, though it was cut in the final version.[80] Cameos in the film include: James Gunn as a Sakaaran;[6] Stan Lee as a Xandarian Ladies' Man;[6][88] Lloyd Kaufman as an inmate;[89][90] Nathan Fillion as the voice of an inmate;[6][91] Rob Zombie as the voice of the Ravager Navigator;[6] composer Tyler Bates as a Ravager pilot;[92] and Seth Green as the voice of Howard the Duck.[7]
I think anybody ... who would have said that this would make a great main movie would have been laughed off. It's such an unlikely thing to do. So I think it's lovely to work on something and expose its potential to the point where a company like Marvel will say, 'Yes, this makes sense.'
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige first mentioned Guardians of the Galaxy as a potential film at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, stating, "There are some obscure titles, too, like Guardians of the Galaxy. I think they've been revamped recently in a fun way in the [comic] book."[94] Feige reiterated that sentiment in a September 2011 issue of Entertainment Weekly, saying, "There's an opportunity to do a big space epic, which Thor (2011) sort of hints at, in the cosmic side" of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Feige added, should the film be made, it would feature an ensemble of characters, similar to X-Men (2000) and The Avengers (2012).[95]
Feige announced that the film was in active development at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International during the Marvel Studios panel, with an intended release date of August 1, 2014. He said the film's titular team would consist of the characters Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Groot, and Rocket.[96] Two pieces of concept art were also displayed, one of Rocket Raccoon, and one featuring the entire team.[97] In August 2012, James Gunn entered talks to direct the film, beating out other contenders, including future MCU directors Peyton Reed and the duo Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.[98] The Avengers director Joss Whedon, who signed a deal to creatively consult on all of the films leading up to The Avengers sequel (2015),[99] was enthusiastic about the selection of Gunn to direct, saying "James [Gunn] is what makes me think it will work ... He is so off the wall, and so crazy, but so smart, such a craftsman and he builds from his heart. He loves the raccoon. Needs the raccoon ... He has a very twisted take on it, but it all comes from a real love for the material. It's going to be hard for [the human characters] to keep up".[100]
Nicole Perlman, who was enrolled in Marvel's screenwriting program in 2009,[101] was offered several of their lesser known properties to base a screenplay on.[102] Out of those, Perlman chose Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Guardians of the Galaxy, due to her interest in space and science fiction,[102] adding, "I think [Marvel] were a little taken aback when I chose Guardians, because there were ones that would make a lot more sense if you were a romantic-comedy writer or something like that".[103] Perlman wrote 10 drafts between 2009 and 2011, in which she tried various combinations of characters for the team, including the original members in the comics, before settling on Abnett and Lanning's run since theirs "were the most fun". These drafts also saw Star-Lord reimagined to be closer to a Han Solo-type character; the inclusion of 1980s and 1990s music from Perlman's childhood, which would become the 1970s and 1980s pop mixtape in Gunn's later drafts; and the eventual opening scene of the film on a desolate planet that harkened back to a memory Perlman had at Disneyland viewing a drained-out Submarine Voyage.[104] Gunn was brought in in early 2012 to contribute to the script,[103] eventually rewriting the script entirely because "it didn't work" for him; he would use the film The Dirty Dozen (1967) as a reference to convey his ideas of the film to Marvel.[105]
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