The next test in Marvel’s plot for box office denomination comes in the form of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy this August. While the Guardians of the Galaxy isn’t a household name in the comics industry, Marvel has amassed an incredibly talented cast to portray the Guardians themselves, including Parks and Recreation‘s Chris Pratt, Avatar‘s Zoe Saldana, WWE’s Dave Bautista, The Hangover‘s Bradley Cooper, and Fast and Furious‘ Vin Diesel, as well as Glenn Close, Karen Gillan, Benicio del Toro, and more rounding out the entire cast.
The previous Marvel films have focused more on individual films, but Guardians will be the first one post-Avengers to attempt to drive the team element across. However, the hybrid sci-fi action/comedy poses as a huge departure from the otherwise grounded films already released under the Marvel brand. I think the film has enough elements to bring in even more casual audiences that aren’t aware of the original comic books. Could it make just as much as Captain America: The Winter Soldier? I’d hope so, but I think Disney and Marvel have realistic ambitions with Guardians to know that the film shouldn’t be considered a failure if it doesn’t come close to Cap‘s record breaking amount.
Guardians of the Galaxy will be out in theaters on August 1st.
