Who are these guys?

Before the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie came out back in 2014, few people knew about this motley crew of heroes out in the far reaches of the Marvel Universe.  But now EVERYONE knows about them – at least they think they do.  This iteration of Marvel’s team in space has taken on many different forms over the years and you might be surprised to know that Yondu (played by Michael Rooker) is the only member of the movie Guardians that was also an original member in the comic books.

WARNING! This post has spoilers for the new Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 film!

But that is not to say that Director James Gunn is not hip on his Marvel Universe history.  In this movie he offers long-time comic book fans a real treat and introduces them to members of the original Guardians team.  When asked about it, Producer Kevin Feige confirmed, “Yeah, they’re definitely the original Guardians (the characters in the one of the end credit scenes). That was the fun of it, and when James had the idea to do more with the Yondu character who was also an original Guardian, the notion that he had a team once like Peter does now, that it’d be fun to see them. And he’s definitely Charlie-27 (Ving Rhames). Where we see them in the future, time will tell.”

Sylvester Stallone is Stakar Ogord, the original Starhawk in the comics, and James Gunn shared that Michelle Yeoh is Aleta Ogord, his comic book sister by adoption. The other characters we see in the end credits are Krugarr, Martinex, and Mainframe, all of whom are pre-Peter Quill era Guardians.  Whether or not their comic book origins will stay in tact is another matter.  Gunn has already changed Peter Quill’s father from ruler of Spartax to living planet.  And in the comics, Quill’s mother wasn’t killed by his dad but by the alien Badoon.  And since in the comics, the original Guardians were not only from the future but from an alternate reality, already their origins will need to be different.  But apparently we aren’t done seeing them.  Asked about being signed to future films, Stallone gave a very evasive answer. “I’ll believe it when I see it. This is Hollywood. You know what I mean?”

There are other references to Marvel space-faring characters like Ayesha (who in the comics turns out to be Stakar’s mother), the Watchers, Ego and Adam Warlock.  But in case you’re wondering if one of those Watchers is Uatu, the famous Watcher who is in charge of Earth and its citizens, it’s not.  At the Guardians press conference, Kevin Feige answered, “Well, I wouldn’t say you saw Uatu, I would say you saw some Watchers.” And as for Stan Lee’s cameos in each Marvel Cinematic Universe film?  Kevin answers, “Stan Lee clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in Guardians was something very fun and James had that idea and we shot that cameo and loved it so much you see it a couple of times in the movie. It wasn’t in for a long time and we put it back in towards the end of the process where he references that time he was a Federal Express agent, and we thought it would be fun to keep that in there because that really says, ‘So wait a minute, he’s this same character who’s popped up in all these films?’  And he is the same person.”

This film was filled with so many Marvel goodies, it’s sure to please the hardcore comics fan – unless you’re a stickler for precision.  Gunn takes quite a few liberties with comic book history, but he certainly knows how to weave an interesting tale.  Where he takes this group of characters next is anyone’s guess, but there will be a next one as Guardians is set to return once more.

• Want to know what we thought of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2?
• Read about my “interview” with Karen Gillan at the Guardians press conference
• “I’m Mary Poppins, y’all” and more from the press conference
• Read what Chris Pratt shared with us about parenting and Baby Groot

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