When the Huffington Post quoted Kevin Feige about actor James Spader giving a "physical performance" in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the online tabloid asked whether the same could be said for Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy. "No. I mean, well, it will be his vocal performance that informs everything on that one, yeah." After the Huff Post informed Feige of their theory that Thanos is like a "end boss in a video game," the Marvel producer replied: "That's .... we never thought of it exactly like that, but I'd say that's a fair analogy, yes. It's also, you look at some classic story lines in the comics and they tease out characters like that -- big bads like that -- for sometimes years. I think Walter Simonson was teasing Surter for years before he popped up. It's fun to have the luxury to build somebody up like that."
In light of Guardians of the Galaxy being described as "wacky," based on the Comic-Con footage, Kevin Feige enthuses, "I hope so! I think it will start out weird and end up, hopefully, very engaging and surprisingly emotional and immersive. But, yes, it is intentional to set it up with Benicio Del Toro, who is incredibly interesting in anything -- much less playing The Collector in Guardians." Is it fun for Marvel to be able to do wacky films? "Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say we're intentionally trying to be "wacky," but we had an amazing group of characters and interesting storyline with a great "in" with a human -- a relatable character -- with Peter Quill. And we weren't going to let the fact that there [were] some unusual elements hold us back. And, instead, as we've always done, we want to forge those and embrace them."
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” the next epic adventure from Marvel Studios, is directed by James Gunn from his screenplay, with a story by Nicole Perlman and Gunn, and the film will introduce audiences to a whole new side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The all-star cast includes Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula, two-time Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou as Korath, Academy Award® winner Benicio del Toro as The Collector, Academy Award nominee John C. Reilly as Rhomann Dey, and six-time Academy Award nominee Glenn Close as Nova Prime. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” is slated for August 1, 2014!