Following the first official (unfinished) image and synopsis from Guardians of the Galaxy earlier this week, some new and intriguing details have been uncovered about this year's only non-sequel Marvel adaptation. In Disney's 2014 lineup press release, veteran actress Glenn Close's role in Guardians was said to be Commander Raes. However, writer/director James Gunn took to Facebook, yet again, to clarify that the six-time Academy Award nominee is actually playing Nova Prima Rael, the highest ranking Nova Corps officer in the film. “I don't know where they got this 'Commander' stuff from,” he added. Close's character seems to be inspired by Irani Rael, a 2nd-highest ranked Nova Corps member in the comics created by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning.
While he and several other journalists were invited to the set at some point last year, Drew McWeeny of HitFix has insinuated he knows a bit more about Guardians of the Galaxy since before filming had even began. Somehow overlooked in November, McWeeny reported that The Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro, is not a main character in the film, but he and his collection both play a key role.
“The Guardians are going to need something from him, and we'll see what happens when Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax, and... Groot all show up on his planet asking for access to something in that collection,” he teased.
Despite Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige reassuring that we'll get more than a turn-and-smile from Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as hear the purple menace speak, and ultimately learn more about him, Drew McWeeny noted about a week ago that he's not too sure if we'll actually get to see the character: “He may well be an off-screen presence a la The Emperor in the first Star Wars movie.” This could explain why an actor has yet to be announced for the role, which may not come into full play until “Phase Three” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nevertheless, McWeeny is sure we'll see Thanos' family in the movie.
Then there's Drax the Destroyer, who was actually created by Thanos' grandfather in the comics with a sole purpose of killing the mad Titan. However, played by wrestler-turned-actor Dave Bautista in Guardians of the Galaxy, the brutish character's one and only goal is to kill Ronan the Accuser, who's the main villain of the film (and a Thanos employee) played by actor Lee Pace. Drew McWeeny reveals that Drax is “driven by revenge [and] has turned his body into a road map of private misery and loss, with ornate tattoos that tell the story of how he was left alone in the universe, filled with nothing now but rage.” Also, Dave Bautista's performance in the film apparently received nothing but high praise from other Guardians cast members: “Every single person we spoke to on the set talked about how blown away they were by what Bautista has been doing with the role.”
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits–Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand - with the galaxy’s fate in the balance. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is presented by Marvel Studios and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gilian, Djimon Hounsou with John C. Reilly, Glenn Close as Commander Rael and Benicio del Toro as The Collector. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film opens August 1, 2014.