Guardians of the Galaxy

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Since the new trailer dropped last week I am surprised that no one started a thread about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

The trailer leads us to believe that there will be a more humorous slant to this movie as compared to previous Marvel movies but based on what little I know of the Guardians this is not unexpected. I do admit that when I first heard that they were making this movie I thought "what? them?! holy cow that movie is going to be a flop" but now I am not so certain.

Ronan the Accuser (from the Kree) is after an orb but the Guardians get to it first. Nebula, which means Thanos (no actor or voice actor listed for him in the credits but you can be certain he'll make at least a cameo). The Collector (whose characterization is listed as "the Liberace of space"). Everyone who is in the loop on the overall plot from the comics knows that this is another Infinity Stone story--the Asgardians have one (the Tesseract, safely tucked away in the treasure room under the watchful eye of Odin *ahem*) and the Collector has another (the Aether, to which he commented to his underling "one down, five to go"). The orb Ronan wants is clearly another one but I don't know which one yet.

Anyway....I am looking forward to this one. Right now the worst thing I can say about it is that I absolutely despise that version of "Hooked on a Feeling". *ugh* ooga chaka ooga ooga chaka It just gets on my nerves. A lot.

[Fist and Faith]

Wow! Hard to argue with that trailer! Can't wait!

Even moreso for me, because I've loved that version of the song my whole life!

The Collector (whose characterization is listed as "the Liberace of space").

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dANdeLION]

Since the new trailer dropped last week I am surprised that no one started a thread about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

aTOMiC started a thread about it a while back, in the Comics forum. That trailer is great, I now believe it's going to be a good movie! As for the music, don't worry about it. The Watchman trailer had a kickass version of "The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" (or the other way around), but the movie had nothing but '60's-'70's classic rock in it.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Ah so. I don't go there very often, which is why I would have missed it.

Given my sometimes incomplete memory, for all I know I probably posted there. Curiosity requires that I look into that possibility.

[sgt.null]

love the trailer. can't wait to see the movie. is that Brad Pitt as the Collecter?

[I'm Murrin]

The Collector is Benicio del Toro.

[sgt.null]

The Collector is Benicio del Toro.

thank you - hard to tell from his 1 second clip.

[I'm Murrin]

Knew it from the mid-credits scene in Thor: The Dark World.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

This just in: Thanos now has a voice actor--Josh Brolin. Apparently he will cameo in GotG then be the major villain in Avengers 3.

[sgt.null]

Thanos is a major villain.

wish they had Jack Flag in the Guardian's movie.

[I'm Murrin]

I just got back from seeing this. It's good movie, a fun one too. It's probably the funniest of the Marvel movies so far.

The plot's a little shaky, though, and the villains (and the Collector) are underused.

There's one plot element I'm puzzling over right now.

Spoiler

It seems like a big coincidence that someone hires Quill's people to find the orb at the same time Thanos has Ronan looking for it. We never do learn who the client was looking for it... except that Yondu asks the Broker who his client was, and next thing we know he turns up outside the Collector's place at the same time as Ronan.

So it kind of looks like the Collector had the Broker hiring people to get the orb, but also offered a (much, much larger) deal to Gamora directly for it. But this isn't confirmed in the film, and it still doesn't explain why the Broker and Ronan's people were there at the same time.

Oh, and one other thing:

Spoiler

When this film drops a giant spaceship onto a city, it actually makes a point of not only letting us know the people were evacuated successfully, but actually showing us evidence of the survivors and their gratitude to the heroes. Watch and learn, Star Trek!

[Fist and Faith]

Very happy! I enjoyed it a lot. I had no idea Ronan or the Collector were in it. The glimpse of the Celestial was very cool!

[Hashi Lebwohl]

There are two guys who really want the McGuffin so using multiple intermediaries to find it isn't surprising--the more people you have looking for it the faster it will get found. Who's to say that the Broker wasn't working for both high-profile clients? A risky venture, to be sure, but in that business things like that happen from time to time.
So....we have group A looking for it for reasons of their own--Ronan was going to find it and turn it over so his employer could fulfill a task for him (presuming that his employer wasn't going to double-cross him, which he probably would have)--and group B looking for it. Gamora knows group A is looking for it so she could have quietly contacted group B, who made her a much better offer from her point of view. The only thing of which I am uncertain is whether group B is actually trying to get it for group A or to keep the Stones out of group A's hands to use for himself/themselves. Suffice it to say, neither group A nor group B has anyone's interest at heart except their own.

Not only the funniest but the most fun Marvel movie to date. Also, I can guarantee you that you have never seen space shot like this before--it's gorgeous.

Best. Soundtrack. Ever. I am actually going to buy this soundtrack and I haven't bought a movie soundtrack since Kill Bill.

[I'm Murrin]

Spoiler

Well, what I'm thinking is that the orb has been sitting in a ruined building on an abandoned planet for god knows how long, so why did both Thanos and the Collector both decide to look for it at the same time? When did its location become known to both sides, and how?

The Broker was too terrified of Ronan to have been working for him as well as (I assume, because of where he sent Yondu) the Collector. He completely turned down the orb and sent Quill away when he heard Ronan was involved.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Spoiler

The Broker might have known for whom Ronan was working, which is why he got scared when Ronan's name was mentioned. Not wanting to get on the bad side of a powerful Kree is bad enough but no one willingly gets on Thanos' bad side.

No, we are uncertain who figured out where the orb was. It is likely, though, that multiple potential locations had been specified and several of them might have already turned up empty. We may safely presume that before now no one knew its location or either Thanos or Collector would have already obtained it.

Thanos' gauntlet is still sitting in Odin's vault; we saw it in the first Thor movie. Gauntlet notwithstanding, though, the important question is this: how many Stones does he already have? We know that the Tesseract in also in Odin's Vault and that the Aether is with the Collector, so now that we know the location of this Stone that leaves three missing/unaccounted for.

Speaking of the Stone from this movie....my wife suspects that it is the Soul stone because not only did Quill see his mother but the Guardians, being kindred spirits, were able to link their souls together and keep themselves from being destroyed by contact with the Stone. She is also convinced, as am I, that the Orb which was given to Nova Prime does not contain the Stone. Quill pulled another sleight of hand switch and kept the Stone for himself. This fits with his character--everyone thinks the Stone is on Xandar when there is no telling where he has it.

These Stones are tricky things. Nick Fury touched the Tesseract for a brief moment and nothing happened. Red Skull maintained contact with it for a longer period and although it sent him somewhere--we don't know where--it did not kill him. Loki did not dare to engage in physical contact with the Tesseract. Jane Foster managed to keep the Aether in her for a couple of days without it killing her...but we don't know how it might have changed her.

Speaking of Loki....we know that he was given his Staff by Thanos and that the Staff had the ability to control minds. The Staff appeared to have the same sort of energy as the Tesseract but is the Mind Stone set into it? I can't think that Thanos would willingly give away a Stone unless he was certain he would get it back relatively quickly.

[I'm Murrin]

Seems like that would be a risky strategy, given that Loki deliberately got himself caught and let his staff be taken by SHIELD. Winter Soldier spoiler:

Spoiler

And now HYDRA has it, right?

[Fist and Faith]

Spoiler

Well, what I'm thinking is that the orb has been sitting in a ruined building on an abandoned planet for god knows how long, so why did both Thanos and the Collector both decide to look for it at the same time? When did its location become known to both sides, and how?

I think the word we're looking for is Convergence.

or maybe, as the Phantom Stranger said (paraphrasing, since I don't have it with me), Coincidence is the thread that binds the universe together.

[ItisWritten]

Really enjoyed this. However ...

There are some clear Farscape connections. Chris Pratt certainly has the Ben Browder swagger down. Of course, Groot is the sentient plant of the group, even if his conversation is limited.

But the one that really got me was the "Home on the Remains" parallel. That was when I started to notice the other things.

Which isn't to say I was pulled out of the movie because of that. Guardians was too much fun to let some similarities between a TV show get in the way.

[I'm Murrin]

It's weird space opera - those are the kind of ideas that are its bread and butter. Hell of a lot of stories have done the "giant body of a celestial being floating in space" thing, and some of those have done the "it's dead and they're mining it" side.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Indeed--there were clear Firefly influences, as well as influences from Star Wars and Indiana Jones (which was actually referenced in the movie). Don't forget, though, that GotG predates Firefly so maybe the TV show was influenced by the comic and, in a bizarre twist, the movie based on the comic is influenced by the TV show.

Seems like that would be a risky strategy, given that Loki deliberately got himself caught and let his staff be taken by SHIELD.

I just watched an the clip in Menolly's thread about Easter Eggs and did not realize that Huginn and Muninn were present when Loki had his meeting with Thanos (well, Thanos' lackey, but still...). This puts certain later actions into a completely different light. note: much of this plot is a working hypothesis my wife has come up with but so far she has me convinced.
Loki knows what kind of being Thanos is and, after his meeting with him, agreed to use the Staff, a gift from Thanos which we suspect contains the Mind Gem (hence its ability to control minds), in order to make war on Earth. Notice that this is exactly the same scenario we find in Guardians--Ronan is given a Stone by Thanos and is to use it to destroy/make war on a planet. Loki's real goal was to force the Avengers to come together so that they could oppose Thanos in the future--Earth was not ready for the next level until Loki made them ready.
The Gauntlet is in Odin's Vault (as is the Eye of Agamotto, which makes me wonder why Dr. Strange doesn't have it? *shrug*) along with the Tesseract and Thanos' goal is the Gauntlet and the Stones. Loki advised Odin of his suspicions about Thanos and Odin realized that, at least on this topic, Loki is telling the truth. Thus, the two of them devised the method by which Loki would fake his death, after which Odin could disappear and Loki could take his place on the throne of Asgard. Not only did they not tell Thor, who may make the mistake of letting the cat out of the bag, but this appeases Loki since he is now the rightful King of Asgard and thus not likely to pursue any more nefarious plots. Odin is now quietly working in the background, putting together forces with which to oppose Thanos. This last point is interesting because we cannot confirm for whom the Broker was working; in the context of GotG we can only presume that it was the Collector but for all we know he could have taken the contract from Odin.

This means we now have been made aware of four Stones--the Tesseract in Odin's Vault, the Aether in the Collector's collection, the Mind Gem in Loki's Staff, and the Orb in Star Lord's possession (he did not give it to Nova Prime, who calmly locked up an empty Orb she thinks has something in it)--while Odin and Loki work to bring together those who will be needed to fight Thanos. I suppose we will see the next two in the next couple of movies but the Staff will probably figure into Age of Ulton, since--yes--Hydra has it at this time (no need to spoiler tag Winter Soldier at this point).