Marvel’s Next Avenger’s Film #11: Guardians of the Galaxy

Likelihood: Even if it doesn't hit screen in 2014, a Guardians of the Galaxy film is definitely on the radar of Marvel Studios. It was mentioned last year alongside Dr. Strange as something on the horizon. It's definitely something that will help to widen the scope of what fans can expect from Marvel Studios. While there are other characters a bit more deserving of getting the spotlight sooner (aside from the aforementioned Strange, there's the long waiting Ant Man) there are few projects that have the potential to show how much variety the super hero genre has to offer to crowds. It's really only a matter of time before the Guardians get their chance to defend the Galaxy on screen. Casting: For those of you unfamiliar with the characters (which is likely most of the people reading this article) let's do a run down of the characters. Star Lord - Vin Diesel A Space Cop who is often wearing a face concealing helmet. Let's be clear that by "often" I mean "I can't reliably find a pic of what this guy looks like without his helmet via a google image search". With that in mind, it's important to look for the right kind of voice for a bad ass space warrior. When I think "Bad Ass Voice" the first thought that comes to mind is 'Vin "motha-fuckin" Diesel'. That guy could read an audio book version of the phone book and it'd still sound cooler than most of us can ever hope to be. He'd also look cool as fuck if Marvel decided to have a scene or two where he takes off the helmet. Adam Warlock - Barry Pepper A gold skinned warrior poet who protects the soul gem (don't ask, just hit up Google if you need to know what the sould gem is) Adam represents what the hippies of the sixties and seventies were hoping the rest of humanity would be by now. That's not quite accurate, but it's easier on the tongue than saying "He's a genetically engineered human who rebelled against his creators then fought Thor before escaping into outer space to be taken in by the high evolutionary to.." you know what, fuck it. Just read the Wikipedia entry (entry) because there is no way this guy can be put into a nutshell. His strange skin tone might make some CGI necessary, but it's still necessary to get a chiseled leading man type to put that computer generated magic on top of. Diesels "Knock Around Guys" co-star Barry Pepper comes to mind. Drax the Destroyer - Jackie Earle Haley Speaking of Google Image searches, do one for Drax The Destroyer. Seriously, open up a tab right now and take a look. Seeing how his look went from "The Hulk and The Phantom had a love child who joined the World Wrestling Federation" to "Green Kratos Wanna-be" is just too hilarious. Anyway, he's a guy who got messed with by aliens a lot. As in "attacked by Thanos, had his daughter kidnapped and raised on another freakin planet and put inside of a new body so he could go kill Thanos..." messed with. If the previous sentence strikes you as incredibly bizarre then you are probably new to the world of super hero comics. There are some seriously messed up origin stories in this genre. Anyway with the body type having so much room for interpretation it's hard to pin down who to wish the film makers would cast. If they were going for the classic Jim Starlin/Ron Lim type of look I'd say Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson would be their man (especially since he's already been in Fast and Furious 5 with Vin Diesel). If they wanted the "not quite Kratos" look, then the "not quite given enough face time in Watchmen" actor Jackie Earl Haley would be pretty damn good for that. Click "next" below for even more castings...