Marvel aims for the stars with Guardians of the Galaxy. Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven launch a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy series this week.
Star-Lord, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora will be joined Iron Man. Bendis tells Marvel.com he’s been digging into the book’s history as he makes the team accesible to old and new audiences.
“We were talking about the characters, what they want and their reliability. I dug up some of their origin stories, particularly Peter Quill’s origin story, which as I tweeted recently I had come across, and decided that it was, for my money, as good as Superman or Spider-man’s origin—it was just no one knew it! It was literally a two-page story in MARVEL PREMIERE about 34 years ago, and I just really really liked it. As the movie was getting closer, and more drafts were coming in, they called me and said “Listen, you were so excited during the Guardians movie calls, we need to get this book back in the public eye. We really want to make it more a part of the Marvel Universe.”
Peter Quill is a hero Marvel hopes you will learn to love as much as Tony Stark or Steve Rogers. In this week’s Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven introduce us the young man who will become Star-Lord in a prelude story I loved.
Guardians of the Galaxy and Star-Lord are old concepts that have been reworked with some degrees of success over the years. Bendis and McNiven inject the Star-Lord mythos with excitement, fresh energy and feeling. This is not a Star-Lord story. This is the story of Continue reading Before He Was A Guardian of the Galaxy
Have the stars aligned for Marvel in the search for Star-Lord? Chris Pratt (Zero Dark Thirty, Moneyball, Parks and Recreation) is in talks to play Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) in the James Gunn directed Guardians of the Galaxy according to The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision.
A brand new Guardians of the Galaxy will blast off next month. It’s part of the Marvel/Disney big expansion off the company’s sci-fi heroes. All-New X-Men writer Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven will steer the new comic book series. James Gunn will direct the big screen film and the search is currently on for the actor to play Star-Lord. Bendis revealed on Marvel.com how these space-faring heroes will connect to teams on planet earth and the connection to the 2014 movie.
“This will be the most surprising chapter of Marvel NOW! This is a brand new #1 that starts these characters off in a place for new readers but doesn’t rob them of what made them great in the first place. It’s also a great place for you to hop on and see why we’re excited for these characters to be in a movie and why it’s as good a franchise as Marvel has.”
“This ties into a lot of things already happening in the Marvel Universe. The things that have happened on Earth in the past few events have had a butterfly effect through the galaxy. The abuse of time travel, the use of the Infinity Gems…these things have costs.”
“If you’re looking at Earth in the Marvel Universe from a distant, it looks like an insane asylum! It’s a place where the Phoenix Force doesn’t destroy the world, where Galactus doesn’t feed. It’s the scariest place anywhere to the rest of the galaxy! Wait until Earth joins the cosmic community…”
Guardians of the Galaxy #3 courtesy Marvel
For the newbies…Peter Quill has an alien father but was raised on Earth. The young man who will become Star-Lord eventually meets up with various aliens (Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Gamora, Groot.)
“I wrote Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 without anybody asking me to, I love the characters so much. Starlord’s origin is a hidden gem. I repeated it in a Marvel retreat and it was nice to see even guys like Dan Slott didn’t know it. It’s as good an origin as Spider-Man. This is why you care about this guy.
They all have father issues or are the last of their species. It’s a universal thing not to like the world you’re born into and not having to be a part of it.”
“Peter Quill’s father is basically the king of the galaxy, but I’m of the belief that the guy who won the war is just the biggest [expletive].
“Every Marvel comic is science fiction on some level. As I was working this, I pulled out every sci-fi book that meant something to me on some level. I have so many that I truly love. I want to see what I was looking at and what drove me crazy; it was always the character and the artwork. That’s the philosophy I applied toward this book.”
In The Avengers movie Earth became a bigger target because its mightiest heroes defeated an alien army. Bendis revealed the first enemies his team will encounter.
“The threat of the first arc is that the Spartax Empire is an empire of conquerors, and the Earth is the sexiest jewel in the galaxy. There will be a lot of complicated plays for Earth, you can’t just come in and invade it if Galactus, the Phoenix and the Skrulls couldn’t do it. They have to be smart. That includes manipulating Starlord and the Guardians into a place where they won’t be an issue.”
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 courtesy Marvel
Bendis is also writing the Age of Ultron event and the brand new Uncanny X-Men and All-New X-Men so expect the storylines to weave into Guardians.
“When you see what’s coming to the book in its second arc, you will be shocked. The fallout from Age of Ultron lands directly in this book.”
“Iron Man joins the team right from the get go, which is exciting and show that the Guardians are really the cosmic Avengers.
The Guardians will be out in space a lot, but there’s something about them trying to protect the Earth but not belonging here and needing to understand it. Earth is in the first two issues.”
“A crossover with the X-Men is absolutely going to happen. The All-New X-Men have a lot to answer for. You know who’s not excited for Jean Grey to be back? Everybody who saw her as Dark Phoenix.”
“Marvel Studios has been developing the Guardians movie for years. I was not the most focused member of the Creative Committee on these characters, but looking at them with eyes wide open and became so excited. When it came time to think about putting this book out, they called me because I sounded like a mental patient talking about the possibilities of Peter Quill.”
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
