The world premiere of the full-length (2:23) Guardians of the Galaxy trailer occurs this evening during Jimmy Kimmel Live but Marvel Studios has already begun to tease the event, first with three first-look photos yesterday and now the trailer shown above.

From the Guardians of the Galaxy action figure reveals during Toy Fair 2014 in New York and the story details released alongside the first official photos, we can begin piecing together story elements and explaining what the imagery in the first trailer is actually showing us. So let's begin with 25 highlights of the footage so far.

As we explained earlier, nearly everything shown in the teaser was shown to us without completed effects during Comic-Con and that was only two weeks into shooting. A few character shots, explosions and the sequence of Nebula (Karen Gillan) wielding blades is entirely new however (they used a stand-in costume test for her in the Comic-Con footage).

Let's begin with these three shots - we're showing them in our own order, not the intentionally non-chronological order the trailer reveals images in.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Star-Lord in Temple

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Korath (Djimon Hounsou)

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Peter Quill

These three stills depict the first scene played at Comic-Con where Chris Pratt's Peter Quill enters an alien temple of sorts. At the alter he finds and picks up the mysterious and all-powerful orb we've seen in the promo art, toys and in person, as a prop brought to Comic-Con. Once he does, he's confronted by Korath the Pursuer, played by Djimon Hounsou who asks him who he is. Quill proudly announces himself as Star-Lord before Korath comically responds, "who?"

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Prison Guard Attacking Peter Quill

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Kyln Prison Inmates

Peter Quill, a human (or mostly human) Earth child of the '80s is very passionate about what few belongings he still has from home, namely his Sony Walkman we saw at Comic-Con. It's the source of the iconic "Hooked On A Feeling" music that's played during the footage and teaser. Anyway, one of the larger alien guards on the prison station known as Kyln is listening to the Walkman and Quill (who's held there along with the other Guardians before they meet) demands that he stop and return it. It results in a beating and a tase as shown above. There's also - at some point - seemingly a prison brawl and you can see some of the alien inmates above.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Drax Blood

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Drax Fighting

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Drax Close-Up (Dave Bautista)

Meet Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a one-man unstoppable army of sorts on a singular quest to find and seek revenge on Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), whom he blames for the death of his family. In Marvel Comics, Drax is seeking out Thanos, but in Guardians of the Galaxy, the focus is on Ronan who works for Thanos. The tattoos/markings hold a special meaning to Drax and we'll find out more in the film. Who's green blood is that in the first image we wonder? Drax uses a pair of deadly blades like he does in the books, holstered at the side of his boots (see here).

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Groot Shout

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Rocket Riding Groot

It's hard to tell from these images (which might be unfinished effects) but Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) is riding on the shoulders of his best friend Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) in an epic circular shot of them surrounded by enemies. It was a highlight of the Comic-Con footage and last week animated .gifs revealed the conceptual animation behind it (we were asked to take those down unfortunately). Yes of course, Rocket Raccoon is wielding an over-sized gun. He loves demolitions. He's good at it.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Gamora Close-up (Zoe Saldana)

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Gamora Hair

From blue skin in Avatar to green skin in the the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Zoe Saldana continues to reign as the queen of sci-fi film franchises (the other being Star Trek). Here she plays Gamora, the most lethal assassin in the universe. She shares some harsh history with Thanos and Nebula (below) and while it may be difficult to tell from this imagery, she sports distinctive tattoo markings across her face. It took the designer many iterations of this design before they (and Saldana) landed on one they loved. The second image we can only guess is an homage to Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair".

Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord Blasters Silhouette

Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord on Alien Planet

Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-Lord Muscles (Chris Pratt)

Chris Pratt, the inspired casting choice by James Gunn after auditioning dozens and dozens of actors for the lead part in Guardians of the Galaxy, had to reshape his physique to fit the part. He joked with us about the diet at Comic-Con - watch that funny video here. The other images highlight scenes we saw brief teases of at Comic-Con, the first being the silhouette of Quill suited up as Star-Lord, ready for battle with his dual signature blasters, the second with him navigating treacherous alien weather. We think the second image might be on his way to or from that temple up above since there's a hint of Korath running through a similar environment, perhaps in pursuit. He is "the Pursuer' after all...

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Star-Lord Piloting the Milano

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Milano Controls

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Star-Lord's Milano Ship

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Milano Explosion 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Milano Explosion

Guardians of the Galaxy - Ronan Mothership

This is the Milano in the first five images, what I like to think of as the Millennium Falcon of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's Star-Lord's personal ship and is the centerpiece of the first revealed Guardians of the Galaxy LEGO toy set. Here we see Quill (Pratt) piloting it into or away from battle with that big dark alien ship (the last image) which features a design reminiscent of the Dark Elf vessels in Thor: The Dark World.

The last image shows this large intimidating vehicle launching an armada of smaller vessels, which judging by the wings, might be the same little speeder/skiff that Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) seemingly rides at some point - compare to the LEGO set here. Is this big monster of a ship Ronan's ride?

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Karen Gillan as Nebula

Why Karen Gillan, don't you look ready for battle. This is our very first official look at Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy since the Comic-Con footage featured a stand-in close-up to show the makeup on her face. There's metal and perhaps even a cybernetic eye on her face. But watch out for those blades and get ready for the Gamora vs. Nebula confrontation. Compare this design to that from the comics here - it's very close.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Tivan Explosion (The Collector's Base)

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer - Tivan Explosion

Who cares about random explosions you might say, but take a closer look! Note the "Tivan" logo in both images. What's that? It's the base/home/ship/station of Taneleer Tivan. Who's that? He's the Collector played by Benicio Del Toro who showed up in the mid-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World (explained here) and who has a major role to play not only in Guardians of the Galaxy but in at least two other films after thanks to the actor's multi-picture contract. The Collector, what he has in his collection, and what he wants, are central to some of the big cosmic plans Marvel has in mind.

Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer Logo

And to wrap up, above is the new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy film logo. It's actually the third version (previous two below) which seems to embrace yellow as much as the film embraces a '50s pulp science fiction that the film's producers and directors are aiming for.

[gallery columns="1" ids="419341,195742"]

Not much on the Rocket Raccoon front, the "heart" of the film, the sure to be fan-favorite and the focus of the toy lines. Expect a look at him, The Collector and perhaps even the mining facility Knowhere (a giant alien head) in the full trailer.

Let us know your thoughts on the character designs and style of Guardians of the Galaxy in the comments below!

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Watch: Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer

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Guardians of the Galaxy is directed by James Gunn off of his script co-written by Nicole Perlman. The film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio del Toro, John C. Reilly, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Glenn Close.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier hits theaters April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014The Avengers: Age of Ultron on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, and unannounced films for May 6 2016, July 8 2016 and May 5 2017.

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