Back in the summer of 2014, the Marvel universe was still pretty fractured. The X-Men had reunited on the big screen for the first time in years viaX-Men: Days of Future Past, andAndrew Gardfield’s Spider-Manhad returned to the big screen to set up what would be an ultimately failed franchise. But after Marvel fans were first delighted byCaptain America: The Winter Soldier, one theatrical production took our breath away, and gave us a glimpse at the true scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.Can you believe that it’s been 10 years sinceGuardians of the Galaxyhit theaters?We can’t either, and thankfully, the space adventure is just as exciting now as ever.
Guardians of the Galaxy
A group of intergalactic criminals must pull together to stop a fanatical warrior with plans to purge the universe.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Was a Gamble That Paid Off
If you were anything like this author, whenGuardians of the Galaxywas first announced — set to be directed bythe guy who madeSuper— you probably weren’t terribly impressed. BeforeThe Avengers, most had heard of Captain America and the Hulk, and Thor was still pretty recognizable, if not just for his mythological status. Even Iron Man, who wasmasterfully reinvented byRobert Downey Jr., had an animated series of his own in the ’90s. But the Guardians of the Galaxy? Who the heck are they? It felt like Marvel Studios was scraping the bottom of the barrel.The now iconic iteration of the team didn’t even unite in the comics until 2008, right around the timethe MCU launched withIron Man. So why were they wasting their time with these characters that nobody cared for or knew anything about?
Again, if you were anything like me, it wasn’t long before those words were eaten up. From the first trailers to the additional marketing and hype surrounding the picture,it didn’t take long for folks to realize that James Gunn had crafted something special withGuardians of the Galaxy. With a main cast that includedthat one guy fromParks and Recreation,the female lead fromAvatarandStar Trek, anda former WWE wrestler who once showed up onSmallville, Gunn somehow made us care about a walking tree and a talking raccoon (voiced by the film’s only instantly bankable stars,Vin DieselandBradley Cooper) more deeply than we do most new Disney characters a decade later. To say thatGuardians of the Galaxy,which cost about $232 million to make(more than evenThe Avengers), was something of a gamble would be an understatement. If this didn’t pay off, the entire cosmic side of the MCU brand would crumble.
Of course, it did.Raking in over $770 million at the box office,Guardians of the Galaxywas an instant hit with both critics and audiences, who praised the film for its ingenious take on traditional sci-fi adventures and its cast for making us care about this band of misfits whom most had never heard of. Behind the fourthTransformersand the thirdHobbit,Guardiansdominated the box office in 2014, and for good reason. The film itself was thrilling, and unveiled to the whole world that Marvel Studios could do a lot more than just make snazzy superhero movies. At the time, it seemed like no genre was off-limits. Sure,The Winter Soldierwas a political thriller at its core, butGuardians of the Galaxywas the first time the studio proved they could operate independently of the specific characters, tropes, and homeworld they had come to rely on. It wasout of this world, in more ways than one.
The Original ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Reinvented the Space Opera
If you know anything about science fiction, then you’ve likely heard the term “space opera.” Simply put, a space opera is a story with melodramatic space warfare, high-risk adventures, complicated relationships, and chivalric romance. The most popular of these is undoubtedlyStar Wars. To this day, nothing has toppedGeorge Lucas’s space opera in sheer scale or notoriety. No wonder Disney went after Lucasfilm. Despite that,Guardians of the Galaxygave us a fresh spin on the sci-fi subgenre.It honors the traditional silliness of classic space operas while modernizing the technique for audiences so far removed from the likes ofFlash GordonandBuck Rogers. Somehow, it does this all while grounding the narrative expertly within the MCU. It’s clear thatStar WarsandFlash Gordonwere among James Gunn’s primary non-comic inspirations, as wereMass EffectandFarscape.
But Gunn doesn’t just pay tribute to the space opera, he usesGuardians of the Galaxyto redefine it. Though we visit countless alien worlds,Guardiansstill feels very distinctly human. The characters themselves, each having gone through a significant loss or tragedy to bring them together, feel less alien to us than Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) human family, and that’s by design. Not unlike our favorite heroes from the originalStar Wars, this plucky group band together in the face of an evil empire (personified here byLee Pace’s Ronan the Accuser), all while slowly becoming a makeshift family of their own. They say you’re able to’t teach an old dog new tricks, but James Gunn proves that notion wrong. Sure, he sticks to the general space opera formula (the hero’s journey is strong in this one), but instead of simply a massive space battle at the end resulting in a destroyed Death Star,the villain is ultimatelydefeated by a combination of friendship and dance moves. No laser swords are even present.
Gunn also resists the temptation to make his characters one-note, as can sometimes be the case in even the best space operas. Quill is haunted by his abduction from Earth, though he suppresses that under loads of humorous bravado. Gamora (Zoë Saldaña) seeks redemption after years of service to her father, Thanos (Josh Brolin), the Mad Titan and destroyer of worlds. Rocket’s (Cooper) full backstory wouldn’t be revealed until years later, but his struggle between believing himself a monster and his yearning for personal betterment is seen even in the first film. Drax may seem like a one-note character on the surface due to his literalism, but he’s incredibly layered, reeling from the slaughter of his family and desperately clinging to the notion that he could maybe one day find a new one (Drax may be the most developed in this film). Even the tenderhearted Groot surprises us by switching his tone from “I Am Groot” to “We Are Groot” by the end. And let’s not forget aboutKaren Gillan’s Nebula andMichael Rooker’s Yondu, who would have bigger roles going forward.
‘Guardian’s of the Galaxy’s Trademark Soundtrack Revolutionized its Popularity
Though most of our heroes don’t step foot on Earth, the cultural emphasis ofGuardians of the Galaxygravitates more toward our human homeworld than the far reaches of outer space. This is undeniably because of the Awesome Mix,which almost single-handedly cemented the film within our pop-cultural zeitgeist. Peter Quill’s trademark soundtrack — composed entirely of songs he grew up listening to with his mom — is just as vital to the atmosphere of the film asTyler Bates’ tremendous score, and yet, never distracts. If Blue Swede or Redbone were played in some Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers adventure, there’s no question that it would feel out of place.But becauseGuardiansitself centers on a deep longing for home and family, something Quill has been forcibly ripped from,the needle drops feel like a natural extension of his own alien existence.
There’s also the fact that the Awesome Mix is just, well, awesome.Guardianswastes no time throwing us head-first into this wild and wacky world, expecting us to either get with the program or move out of the way. “Fooled Around and Fell in Love,” “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” transport us directly into the far reaches of the galaxy, no matter where they originated from. “Spirit in the Sky,” which only appears in the trailers and on the soundtrack, is the kind of classic rock tune that you can’t help but move to, and it prepared us preemptively for this highly stylized world that James Gunn had crafted. It’s no wonder that action movies and comic book films with a heavy use of soundtrack likeSuicide SquadandBaby Driverwere greenlit in the following years.
Guardians of the Galaxydidn’t invent the use of “soundtrack as a major plot point,” but it wasn’t exactly common within the science-fiction genre beforehand. Sure,Battlestar Galacticaused a cover of “All Along the Watchtower"in its third season as a revelatory piece, andeven theFlash Gordonmoviefeatured Queen’s iconic “Flash Theme,” but nothing likeGuardianshad been done in the genre before. In total, four Awesome Mixes were released under theGuardiansbrand, three in conjunction with the feature film and a fourth (dubbed the “Cosmic Mix”) connected to the two-season Disney XD animated series. For a film series so committed to exploring the stars, its earthy soundtrack is part of what makes it one of Marvel’s most memorable.
Marvel Studios Has Yet to Rival Their Cosmic Brand
As the only trilogy of MCU films by the same director,theGuardians of the Galaxyseriesonly proves the untapped potential of the cosmic side of the Marvel universe. James Gunn was, in many ways, a trendsetter for the direction the MCU would move in thematically (and humorously, which was admittedly a double-edged sword), though Marvel Studios has yet to give us another space-centered Marvel flick with the same careful attention to detail and adoration of science-fiction, theGuardianssequels notwithstanding. With so many heroes (and more on the way) all centered on protecting Earth, who is defending the larger cosmos?Guardians of the Galaxygave us an answer to that question,though certainly not the only one possible.
SinceGuardianshit theaters in 2014,many have considered it among Marvel Studios' very best, and they’d be right.It’s witty, heartfelt, honest, and a spectacular love letter to science fiction. Naturally, two more feature films, an animated series, a video game, and evenThe Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special(which far surpasses the horrificStar Warsattempt from all those years ago) would be Marvel’s response, and we’ve loved every second of it. Sure, whenGuardians of the Galaxywas first announced, it made sense that folks might’ve blown it off, but once it was out there in the world, we couldn’t help but gravitate to this strange band of misfits, who have somehow become some of the most notable characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well done, James Gunn and company, all these years later,Guardiansis still as bright as ever.
Guardians of the Galaxyis available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
Watch on Disney+
