A list of trivia related to Guardians of the Galaxy.
References to Marvel Comics[]
- Characters from the movie adapted from the comics are Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Nebula and Ronan the Accuser. Other characters from the comics are Meredith Quill, Yondu Udonta, Korath, Bereet, the Broker, Kraglin Obfonteri, the Collector, Carina, Moloka Dar, Rhomann Dey, Garthan Saal, Irani Rael and Eson the Searcher.
- In the comics, Drax the Destroyer was born Arthur Douglas, a man assassinated, together with his family and wife by Thanos' experiment. Later, cosmic entity Kronos (Thanos' grandfather) captured Douglas' soul before he arrived to Afterlife and placed him in a new and powerful body in order to stop Thanos' plans to get the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract shown in Captain America: The First Avenger.) As Arthur Douglas, he was father of Heather Douglas, super-heroine Moondragon.
- Guardians of the Galaxy is primarily based on the 2008 comic team (Star-Lord, Gamora, Nova, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Groot), but features Yondu, a member of the original 1969 comic team.
- The language used on Rocket's screen he uses to find bounties is the Skrull alphabet from the comics.
- Star-Lord's ALF card and stickers are references to the ALF comic book series which was published by Marvel Comics. ALF was also used as a TV show characters would watch in the Earth-616 universe.
- Peter has a NASA patch on his backpack, which is a reference to him being a NASA astronaut in the comics.
- The term Terran is from the comics.
References to James Gunn's Previous Works[]
- James Gunn always includes a character named Fitzgibbon in all of his films, after his name Larry Fitzgibbon.
- Star-Lord mentions the film Footloose and its star Kevin Bacon to Gamora. Kevin Bacon was one of the stars of James Gunn's film Super.
- The alien creatures from James Gunn's film Slither can be seen in the Collector's Museum.
- During the scene where Peter's mother is in the hospital, there is a card which features Snoopy. This is a reference to James Gunn’s PG Porn, in which Wesley Von Spears portrayed Snoopy.
- Rob Zombie has a voice cameo in this film, as he did in Slither and Super.
Casting[]
- Joel Edgerton, Eddie Redmayne, Jensen Ackles, Lee Pace, Wes Bentley, Jack Huston, Cam Gigandet, Sullivan Stapleton, Logan Marshall-Green, Garrett Hedlund, Chris Lowell, James Marsden, Jim Sturgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aaron Paul, Michael Rosenbaum and John Krasinski auditioned and screen tested for the role of Peter Quill/Star Lord. Pace was cast as Ronan the Accuser. Marsden previously portrayed Scott Summers/Cyclops in the 20th Century Studios productions X-Men, X2 (film) X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and a cameo appearance in X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Rosenbaum later portrayed Martinex in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Krasinski later portrayed a variant of Mister Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as he was a very popular choice to play the role but is still unclear if he will play the Earth-616 variant in the MCU reboot The Fantastic Four.
- Olivia Wilde turned down the role of Gamora, while Rosario Dawson, Gina Carano, Rachel Nichols, Kristanna Loken, Moon Bloodgood and Adrianne Palicki auditioned before the role went to Zoe Saldana. A year later, Dawson was cast as Claire Temple in Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and The Defenders. Carano later portrayed Angel Dust in the 20th Century Fox production Deadpool. Palicki later got offered the role of Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. which she accepted.
- Chadwick Boseman, Djimon Hounsou, Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade, Shad Gaspard and Jason Momoa were considered for the role of Drax the Destroyer. Hounsou was cast as Korath. Hounsou was later cast as The Wizard in the DC Extended Universe productions Shazam!, a cameo appearance in Black Adam and Shazam! Fury Of The Gods.
- Boseman was later cast as T'Challa/Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, he was originally supposed to appear in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever but passed away in of August 2020 just as production was about to begin, Marvel Studios chose not to recast the role and decided to make his sister Shuri the new Black Panther. Wade later played Absorbing Man in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Momoa later portrayed Arthur Curry/Aquaman in DC Extended Universe productions Justice League, Aquaman, Zack Snyder's Justice League and Aquaman: And The Lost Kingdom.
- Adam Sandler, David Tennant, Sharlto Copley, Jim Carrey and H. Jon Benjamin were amongst the actors considered to voice Rocket Raccoon. Tennant was later cast as Kevin Thompson/Kilgrave in Jessica Jones.
Production[]
- Guardians of the Galaxy was the first non-Avengers Marvel property developed by Walt Disney Pictures.
- Director James Gunn cites Iron Man (2008) as an influence on the film: "we are starting Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This is Marvel Cosmic. And we're doing exactly what they did with the first Iron Man film."
- Rocket Raccoon was not included in early drafts of the script out of fear that he would be considered too cartoonish.
- According to producer Victoria Alonso, Rocket Raccoon and Groot was created through a mix of motion-capture and rotomation VFX.
- Alexandra Byrne was flustered when measuring Djimon Hounsou for his outfit; she stated he was so perfectly built she could put a beanbag on him and he'd make it look good.
- Guardians of the Galaxy is the last film featuring the Marvel Studios logo introduced in Thor: The Dark World to include an arrangement of the fanfare that originally accompanied it.
- Guardians of the Galaxy is the only non-sequel film released between the first two Avengers films, and one of only two in Phase 2.
Personal[]
- To prepare for the role of Nebula, Karen Gillan shaved her head.
- Bradley Cooper (Rocket) was dating Zoe Saldana (Gamora) until January 2013, when they split.
- Peter is abducted from Missouri, which is the state James Gunn was born in.