Kevin Feige, James Gunn, And Chris Pratt Talk Guardians Of The Galaxy
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With the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase Two in full effect, Guardians of the Galaxy will show whether or not Marvel Studios can sell even the weirdest of its characters to general audiences. In an interview with AMC Movie News, Marvel producer Kevin Feige, director James Gunn, and Guardians star Chris Pratt spent more than a half-hour talking about the new comic-book movie and fielding questions from their fans. First up, they explained that while Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in the same universe as The Avengers, Iron Man, and Captain America, it will feature new threats to Earth that haven’t been explored in any earlier Marvel movie. These threats could come to Earth, but for now they’re mostly isolated in space. Feige says:
All of us at the studio wanted to do something new, wanted to do something original … Excited about doing something, frankly, that most people had never heard of… [It] couldn’t be more distant in geography to the other films. 99% of this movie takes place on the other side of the galaxy. Never mind the themes and character interaction… there are a handful of characters you’ll see in this movie who will carry through to other films as threats to Earth.
Anyone familiar with Marvel’s movies knows to stay until the very end of the movie because there will always be a cool scene that teases the next movie (or is just funny). However, Feige insists those teasers aren’t necessary to enjoy the movie, and that they only do them if they have a good idea. Feige continues:
We don’t look at those post-credits scene as mandatory in any way. If we have something fun, we’ll add it. That’s part of the fun for sitting through the credits… We build that in from the very beginning on the actor’s schedules, in the actual budget. … We always build in additional time for when a cool idea comes up. James has had some cool ideas so we’re going to get after that.
Unlike Marvel’s previous movies, Guardians of the Galaxy is packed with space aliens and characters who are all but unknown outside of hardcore comics fans. While Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot were always intended to be the core group of Guardians, there were a few characters from the comic book mythology who were included in early drafts of the film, but were later taken out. Gunn reveals:
There’s a lot of them. There’s so many great characters. … There are some great original Guardians; I love Star-Hawk… Bug was in early drafts, but never a main Guardian. Tantalus was in for a while … If we’re fortunate enough to make another film in the future, there’s plenty of characters to bring in. There are nods or teases to them in the film.
The above interview with AMC’s John Campea clocks in at just less under 37 minutes, but it’s definitely worth watching if you’re a Guardians of the Galaxy fan, or just curious to learn more about the upcoming Marvel film.
Guardians of the Galaxy follows Peter Jason Quill, a half-human, half-alien who is at the center of a galaxy-wide manhunt after he steals a mysterious orb. Once he’s caught and sent to a space prison, he tries to escape by building an alliance with a group of misfits and outlaws. When the new team learns about the orb’s true power, they must work together to keep the galaxy safe from Ronan the Accuser and the evil Kree Empire.
Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Benicio del Toro, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Michael Rooker, Olivia Lovibond, John C. Reilly, and Glenn Close, and opens in theaters everywhere on August 1.
