Guardians of the Galaxy Character Guide

It's been over a year since Marvel Studios first revealed their plans to produce a Guardians of the Galaxy film adaptation. Following on the heels of well-known properties like Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and their combined Avengers team-up, many film fans are still trying to wrap their head around the Guardians of the Galaxy movie - which features the added challenge of introducing an entire ensemble team of alien beings.

Many die hard comic book fans would be able to list-off in-depth back stories for the Guardians (and their antagonists) but Marvel still has a long way to go in educating casual filmgoers about the movie. To help get the ball rolling, at Comic-Con 2013, the Guardians of the Galaxy cast offered personal descriptions for their respective characters - as well as insights into what excites them most about the upcoming film.

Guardians of the Galaxy Star Lord Chris Pratt

Star-Lord aka Peter Quill: A cocky and sarcastic human pilot who ends up in space - caught in the middle of a universal conflict.

Chris Pratt: “Without blowing too much of his origin or anything like that, there’s a petulance to him. He hasn’t really been held accountable as an adult. He’s been able to be kind of free in space and do whatever he’s wanted to do, and that’s really fun because it means that he’s, like, slept with all these super weird aliens.

My favorite moment that I had was when I first donned my full wardrobe in the costume department. I put it on and I was just like, 'Wow.' All of the sudden my walk changed a little bit. That was pretty cool.

For more on Star-Lord, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Yondu Michael Rooker

Yondu Udonta: An alien archer in tune with nature - from a primitive species that represented Earth’s first colonization of another planet a thousand years into the future.

Michael Rooker: “There's a lot of me in Yondu. When I first read the script, I noticed right away that there were some aspects of Yondu's existence in this world that are close to mine. For example, there's the tough love and attitude I have toward some of the other cast members.

In a lot of the movies I've done, I hardly ever do make-up [...] When I get mad, I get red. When I get embarrassed, I get red. When I get turned on, I get red - and I want the audience to see that as well! You know? In the character. So if the character’s getting mad, getting turned on, getting upset or something, you’d  see that in the facial tones and the skin tones and that’s what I enjoy about acting - to be very subtle like that. I prefer to have no makeup at all - but not in this one!

For more on Yondu, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Gamora

Gamora: A deadly assassin and the last of her species. The adopted daughter of Thanos - who eventually turned against him after a brutal and violent upbringing.

Zoe Saldana: “She turns green when she blushes, she turns green when she’s mad, when she’s turned on…  [a joke in reference to Rooker's comments about acting]. What’s wonderful is that she has grown up in an environment that has misrepresented how she truly, truly feels inside, and she’s gonna discover that, hopefully.

I feel very excited to be joining the Marvel family of superheroes, and I do believe that the Guardians have bigger powers in a way. And if we were up against Captain America or Thor, we would totally kick ass.

For more on Gamora, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Drax the Destroyer

Drax the Destroyer: A silent, physical, green-skinned brute type, who (in the comic books) died as a human and was later resurrected as, essentially, a biological weapon with one purpose: to hunt down and kill Thanos.

David Bautista: “Drax the Destroyer is a pretty bad dude. He’s full of rage and full of honor. He’s very literal. The best thing about Drax is he's hysterical without meaning to be. I think that's what I love the most about Drax."

[Acting] is new to me, but I still go to work and I’m a student at this and I’m not afraid to let people know this is new to me. I’m still learning and I’m not afraid to go up to people and pick their brains and ask for advice because to me, that’s how you get better. That’s how I got better at everything I’ve ever done - don’t be too proud to ask for help. I’m learning a lot every day on this project from the cast, from the director, from the crew–even the film’s producers. Just learning, learning. That’s what it’s all about."

For more on Drax the Destroyer, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Korath

Korath the Pursuer aka Korath-Thak: A Kree agent that develops superhuman tracking abilities thorough the implementation of cyber-genetics - becoming a feared intergalactic hunter.

Djimon Hounsou: “I play Korath, he's a humanoid but I want to highlight a story about my son: I have a four-year-old son and one day he looked up and said he loves all the superheroes from Spider-Man to Batman to Iron Man. He’s got all the costumes, and one day he looks at me, he says, ‘Papa, I want to be light skinned so I can be Spider-Man because Spider-Man is light skinned.’ That was a shocker to me so I’m extremely excited to be part of a Marvel universe so that hopefully it can provide sort of like a diverse outlook to superheroes or bad guys in those stories. It’s important for us to be part of that, and specifically for me.

Guardians of the Galaxy Ronan Accuser

Ronan the Accuser: A Kree warrior. Ronan is a key member of the Kree, one of the alien races rumored years ago to potentially be a part of the first Avengers movie. The Kree are enemies of the Skrulls, and Ronan is a super powerful judge, jury and executioner.

Lee Pace: “He's been around since 1967, in Fantastic Four number 65, so there's a lot of stories that I've been able to research. I’m just really excited to make a villain that is complicated and that there’s a core of him that you can find something that you understand, you know? I don’t know, he’s pretty bad though He's a bad dude.

For more on Ronan and the Kree, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Nebula

Nebula: A villainous space pirate who used her fleet to attack various alien civilizations (and The Avengers) - and once claimed to be a descendent of Thanos. Nebula relies on keen battle planning and sharp combat skills (as well as high tech weaponry) to conquer her enemies.

Karen Gillan: “She looks pretty weird but one of the most interesting things about the character for me is her very strange and complex relationship to Gamora.

For more on Nebula, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy The Collector Del Toro

The Collector aka Taneleer Tivan: The last surviving member of a highly-intelligent species, he was granted immortality from “Death,” and has the ability to see into the future. He collects actual beings - so that, in the event of intergalactic annihilation, he can reseed the universe with lifeforms.

Benicio Del Toro: “He collects things, like everyone does. I think it’s pretty cool that he’s got his own personal zoo.

Fun fact: Director James Gunn claims that before Del Toro gave his answer about the zoo, the actor was actually going to say the weirdest aspect of The Collector is his hair.

For more on The Collector, click here.

Guardians of the Galaxy Rocket Raccoon Groot Actor

Rocket Raccoon: The “heart” of Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocket Raccoon is the product of a genetic manipulation program on the planet Halfworld - where animals were given humanoid properties and enhanced intellect.

Groot: An advanced alien plant creature - somewhat similar to the Ents in the Lord of the Rings series (though there are plenty of differences). Friends with Rocket Raccoon, he can absorb as well as control other vegetation and heal damaged areas of his body.

On the subject of casting Rocket Raccoon and Groot: Bradley Cooper will voice the militant raccoon, while Vin Diesel will play Groot. [Updated by Ed.]

Guardians of the Galaxy Character Guide

Which characters are you most looking forward to seeing onscreen? Did you know much about these characters or comic books before the movie was announced?

We'll keep you up to date on Guardians of the Galaxy as further official information is released.

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Guardians of the Galaxy releases in theaters on August 1, 2014.

Follow me on Twitter @benkendrick for further updates on Guardians of the Galaxy as well as future movie, TV, and gaming news.