10 Things You Didn’t Know About Guardians of the Galaxy
Let’s get started with 10 things you didn’t know about Guardians of the Galaxy!
Marvel’s new movie was a total blast; it broke all the tops and all the rules. It was the highest-grossing Marvel movie so far.
Even the Iron Man itself- Robert Downey Jr. said that Guardians of the Galaxy was the best Marvel movie so far.
The first non-Avengers Marvel property developed by Walt Disney Pictures and the second film to set the 2nd phase in the cinematic Marvel universe, was directed by James Gunn.
It was the highest-grossing film of summer 2014 at the North American box office and it became the first August release to do so since box office first started in the mid ‘70s.
And as of August 2014, the movie holds the record for being the widest August release in over 4 thousands and eighty theaters. It broke the previous record hold by G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) with 4 thousands and seven theaters.
Can you imagine the movie with Hugh Laurie, Alan Richman and Ken Watanabe as main characters? Because originally they were considered for the roles.
Let’s find out crazy things about each one of the characters and about the director! Shall we get started with 10 things you didn’t know about Guardians of the Galaxy?
10. Sean Gunn improvised one of Rocket Raccoon’s best lines
James Gunn’s brother Sean Gunn did the motion capture for the character of Rocket Raccoon. But he wasn’t just the motion capture guy for the character, he also improvised one of the best lines in Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Even the voice of Rocket ( Bradley Cooper) copied a lot of Sean Gunn lines because he liked Sean’s performance so much.
The director, James Gunn, said that the line “like a bunch of jack**es standing in a circle” was something Sean came up on the spot while shooting and it ended up being James Gunn’s favorite line in the movie. And one of the best in the entire movie.
9. Vin Diesel Recorded ”I Am Groot” Over 1000 Times
Vin Diesel said in an interview that he recorded Groot’s famous line, “I am Groot” over 1,000 times in different moods.
The director’s job was to go through all the lines and choose only the ones he thought was necessary. And while he was giving the Groot character voice he was wearing stilts so he could get a sense of how large Groot actually is.
Also, Vin Diesel recorded the line in several different languages, including Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese and French, so if you are watching the movie in those languages you hear Vin Diesel’s voice.
The performance as Groot helped Vin Diesel go through a dark time in his life, when he has dealing with the loss of his best friend and “Fast and Furious” co-star Paul Walker.
He stated: “It was the first time I came back to dealing with human beings after dealing with death, so playing a character who celebrates life in the way Groot does was very nice.”
8. Oreo the Raccoon Inspired Rocket Raccoon Character
Before he was voiced by Bradley Cooper and motion pictured by James Gunn’s brother, Rocket Raccoon was modeled on a raccoon living in the UK named Oreo. But Oreo wasn’t just an ordinary raccoon.
Oreo the raccoon was raised since he was two days old by his owner Sallie Rainbow and the people at Oreo and Friends, a UK based group that describes itself as an animal encounters company that helps raise awareness of exotic animals.
But he was famous before James Gunn, the director of the movie Guardians of the Galaxy modeled his Rocket character after him.
Oreo the raccoon is an active user on social media platforms, he has twitter, Facebook and an YouTube channel.
7. It Has an Amazing Soundtrack
James Gunn revealed in an interview that he compiled a list of hit songs that appear in the Billboard charts within that decade and narrowed it down to 120 to be considered for use in the film.
Gunn also said that some of the scenes were either filmed around the music played on background or it served as inspiration for him to write a scene around the track.
The soundtrack is composed mainly of ’70s-’80s songs as they are part of Quill memories of Earth and the usage of songs from 70s would help grounding to reality and providing fun juxtaposition.
“The music and is one of those touchstones that we have to remind us that Quill is a real person from planet Earth who’s just like you and me, except that he’s in this big outer space adventure.” – the director James Gunn stated.
The soundtrack album “Awesome Mix, Vol. 1” reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, the first film soundtrack ever to reach number one without a single original song.
6. James Gunn is baby Groot
At the end of the movie, Baby Groot dances to Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back”. The scene initially was meant for the end of the film, but James Gunn decided that it was so good and made it a mid-credits scene.
The dancing baby Groot was one of the best scenes from the film, and fans kept thanking Gunn in more ways than one for it.
He eventually admitted that he lent his own dance moves to it, and that baby Groot was animated using footage of him dancing privately to the song.
Gunn said for the Empire magazine: “I’m not motion-captured, but I’m motion-referenced and that is 100 percent me dancing,” Gunn tells Empire.
5. It Made Bautista Cry
Even the toughest men can cry sometimes. That’s the case of Dave Bautista who played Drax the Destroyer in the movie “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
He might look big and scary, but inside he is gentle as a dove. When he found out he got the role of Drax the Destroyer, he broke down in tears, overjoyed at getting a Marvel comic-book role.
Bautista was so happy that he got the chance to be in the movie, that he couldn’t handle it anymore and burst in tears of joy.
He wanted to be as good as possible and immediately signed up for extra acting classes in order to prepare for the role.
First it was Djimon Hounsou who auditioned for the role of Drax. And after he saw that Bautista got the part and how ripped he was, he knew why he wasn’t cast and admitted that Bautista was the perfect choice for the role.
4. Chris Pratt Wasn’t the Director’s First Choice
Before Chris Pratt’s killer audition, several famous actors auditioned and screen tested for the role of Peter Quill/Star Lord.
Actors like Jensen Ackles (Supernatural), Cam Gigandet (Easy A), Sullivan Stapleton (Strike Back), James Marsden (X-Men), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Don Jon), John Krasinki (The Office), Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) and many others almost got Pratt’s role.
First, James Gunn didn’t want to see Pratt auditioning, but eventually he was convinced by his assistant, and let him audition at the end of all the auditions.
After Pratt read for 30 seconds, Gunn knew he was perfect for the role. His audition was so good that Gunn prepared to offer him the role even if Pratt did not lose weight and get in shape in time.
Gunn even joked that he was willing to CGI a six pack on Pratt’s body. But Pratt asked him to give him 6 months to lose 50 pounds and he ended up losing 60 pounds.
Pratt was also good at improvisation, according to James Gunn, Star-Lord’s obscene gesture was an improvisation by Chris Pratt.
3. Peter Quill Ship is Named After Alyssa Milano
Where the name The Milano comes from? Have you ever thought about that?
With the help of Twitter, the director James Gunn has confirmed that Peter Quill’s ship in the film is named The Milano after Alyssa Milano, Peter Quill’s childhood crush.
According to James Gunn, Star-Lord’s ship the Milano is based on a hot rod: “Its environment is reminiscent of Earth and has a tangible quality – mechanical with chrome and leather and a muscle-car look.”
Peter Quill Ship’s ship name is one of the 10 things you didn’t know about Guardians of the Galaxy!
What do you think about Gunn’s idea of giving such name to a space ship? Do you like it?
photo via screencrush
2. You Can Survive In Space Without A Helmet
This one is a bit of a spoiler, but I will try to keep it light. So, in the movie, when Peter Quill is out in the space, have you ever wondered how he managed to survive without the oxygen?
Gunn and Badass Digest have explained the science behind those scenes- let’s exclude the fact that both Gamora and Peter have powers beyond the average human being.
When developing the scene where Quill was unprotected in space, Gunn said he talked to a NASA scientist and was told: “The answer is yes, for a short amount of time, if he had oxygen. And, without a mask, if he released all oxygen from his lungs, for a significantly shorter amount of time.”
So, yea, now you can sleep in peace.
1. They Will Return
Well, yes you might know this but is exciting for everyone who has seen the movie. Although we have to wait until July 28, 2017 to see who Peter’s dad is and how they are going to fight the forces of evil.
And if you stood until the credits you noticed that “The Guardians of the Galaxy will return”. If you weren’t sure, they intentionally timed to the San Diego Comic Con when they made the announcement that the sequel would be coming in like 3 years.
Are you looking forward to see the sequel from the Guardians? Which was your favorite scene from the movie?
