Of all the properties Marvel has, Nicole Perlman chose to write the screenplay for the Guardians Of The Galaxy, a choice that many thought was fairly odd at the time, but she proved to Marvel and the world that she could make every character in the movie interesting, including characters such as Rocket Raccoon and Groot. She may not have as much experience as some of the others that wrote for Marvel, but her script impressed so much that they were willing to take the risk. With James Gunn later doing a few small rewrites, her script is what made Marvel have faith in the lesser-known space group.
In an interview with Cineplex, she got to talk a lot about why she chose to do Guardians Of The Galaxy over many of the other properties she was offered, but she also talks a bit about the treatment for the Black Widow spin-off that she wrote, and shares her thoughts on who would win between the Guardians of The Galaxy and The Avengers.
She revealed that Marvel gave her a choice of a few different properties that she could try writing a script for, which they would make if they liked it. "I chose it from a list that Marvel gave me of their lesser-known properties," she said, "some that were much better-known than Guardians. I can’t really list what they were but they were very recognizable, especially in the comics world. I chose to do Guardians because it was the most science-fiction based of all the options and I knew that Marvel was going to be expanding in to the cosmic universe and it seemed like a great first foray into that. I had written a lot of projects that were space-based so I felt really confident and comfortable in that realm. And the characters were really great." She even said that when she told some of her friends which script she was getting the chance to write, they were confused as to why she chose this one out of all the others. "I had some friends express surprise that I went with Guardians over some of the others. I never regretted it; it was always a fun place to be."
She was also asked what it was like having her name attached to a huge project that is arguably one of the biggest films of the year. She said, "It’s kind of crazy. I started working on it so long ago and when I would tell people I was writing this Marvel movie they would say “Yeah, sure you are. How come we haven’t heard of this movie before?” It’s science-fiction and it’s based on comics that no one has really heard of at the time and of course now it’s more familiar. Now it’s really gratifying to be like “That’s what I have been working on for years.”" Just like Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Guardians Of The Galaxy had to balance each member of the team, plus the villains and the supporting characters, which was a massive challenge. But there had to of been one character that stood above all the others as the most interesting to write, and she said that it would have to be Gamora. "I liked writing Gamora a lot. It’s nice to write a kick-ass female who has feelings and isn’t a robot or a caricature. I really liked writing Rocket. It was great when I convinced Marvel to let me put him in. At first they were really dubious that I could make him a character and not a cartoon and I am really glad they were really happy with the results."
One of the best things about Marvel is that they don't want to have to rely on big name writers, directors, or actors to make sure their films are a success. They just want to produce the best films possible, so they'll choose who they think is best, no matter how unknown they might be. Nicole Perlman has had no screen credits prior to writing Guardians Of The Galaxy, but her script was picked up because they liked it. She talked a little about how it felt to be chosen, since the writers before her were a little bit more well-known, and if she considered this a challenge. "Marvel develops a lot of projects and not all of them get made, it doesn’t always reflect on the quality of the project, it is just sort of what they have room for on their slate. I just feel very lucky that this project as opposed to the other ones that were in contention for the same summer slot happened." She continued, "I don’t think I really fully believed it until the tag at the end of The Avengers with Thanos that I realized, “Okay it’s happening.” That was a thrilling moment."
Although she didn't write any other feature film, she did write a treatment for a Black Widow spin-off that Marvel apparently liked. She was asked if that was something she hopes to take a step further sometime in the future. "I do hope it gets developed. I didn’t work on it as much as Guardians, and they also used me as an uncredited writer for Thor and I wrote all of Natalie Portman’s scenes. The Black Widow project didn’t get to the script phase, it was just a treatment but it was pretty in depth, and hopefully one day we’ll see it, Fingers crossed!" She was finally asked if she thought the Guardians Of The Galaxy could beat The Avengers, which is a question that a lot of people have been asked before. "[Laughs]. You know Guardians would fight dirty, so I think they might have the advantage but Avengers have been working as a team for longer so it’s an equal advantage. I would have to vote for my team and say Guardians because they have some special skills that haven’t been fully been revealed so they have some secrets up their sleeves." Guardians Of The Galaxy will hit theaters on August 1st, just a few days away! Share your thoughts below.
From Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team—the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, 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 Quill 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.