Before their hit movie came out in 2014, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy were obscure comic
characters known only to hardcore fans.
Now, Groot, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon are household names.
But what many fans may not know is that some of the characters underwent drastic changes
in their transition to the big screen.
So hold on to your robot legs, because here's what the Guardians of the Galaxy are really
like…
"Here you go."
"Oh, I was just kidding about the leg.
I just needed these two things."
"What"
"No, I thought it would be funny.
Was it funny?"
The team
The movie depicts the meeting and initial team-up of the Guardians of the Galaxy: Star-Lord,
Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, and Drax the Destroyer.
But when the original Guardians of the Galaxy team debuted in an issue of Marvel Super Heroes
in 1969, none of those characters were present.
Instead, the Guardians consisted of guys named Vance Astro, Martinex, Charlie-27, and Yondu
— the only one who made it into the first movie, and not even as a member of the team.
Rocket Raccoon
In the comics, Rocket Raccoon looks pretty much the same, but he has a totally different
back story.
Instead of a soldier of fortune with a tree sidekick, Rocket originally was the sheriff
on a planet designated as an insane asylum.
It was in that capacity that he was introduced to Marvel readers when The Incredible Hulk
accidentally ended up on his planet.
That incident gave Rocket the only sidekick even less articulate than Groot.
"Puny God."
Groot
In a movie full of memorable lines, Groot has perhaps the most memorable.
"I am Groot."
"So What"
It's pretty much all he can say.
But in his earliest comics appearances, Groot spoke often…and with much foreboding.
In Tales to Astonish #13, he visited Earth to warn humanity that it's doomed, declaring
himself the ruler of Planet X, and turning a forest into his own army.
Nearly 50 years later, Groot was re-introduced in a way that was much closer to the loveable
giant you see on screen, emphasis on the "giant:" in the comics, he's often closer to 25 feet
tall.
"Ahhhhh"
Drax
Portrayed by the almost inhumanly fit MMA fighter Dave Bautista, Drax is a violence
machine who doesn't understand the nuance of language and is singularly focused on one
goal: avenging the death of his family, who were killed by Ronan the Accuser.
"Ronan the Accuser."
"You are the one who transmitted the message."
"You killed my wife.
You killed my daughter."
In the comics, his origin is similar, except it was Thanos who killed both Drax himself
and his family before Drax was resurrected by Thanos' own dad in order to exact revenge.
Plus, he often rocked a cape, purple pants, and that adorable little swim cap.
Wouldn't it be great to see him put that outfit on in a sequel?
"Yes, Ha Ha Ha."
Yondu
In the comics, Yondu was a noble alien archer who came from the future in an alternate timeline.
In the movies, he's still got the arrow, but now he's ditched the fantasy threads and gone
for a decidedly more utilitarian look.
He's also now a rough-around-the-edges intergalactic pirate who uses a magic arrow to steal, pillage,
and kill.
"He He He"
If you think that makes him sound like a blue, kinda evil Hawkeye, you're not entirely wrong
— but Yondu's arrow is different because it responds to his commands when he whistles…
...which is, y'know, pretty cool.
Peter Quill
The movie version of Peter Quill is equal parts thief, pirate, and salvager, all of
which is a far cry from his original style in the comics: a square-jawed, law-abiding
space cop with a skintight unitard.
Though now the de facto leader of the Guardians, he didn't appear in the comics until 1976
— seven years after the Guardians of the Galaxy debuted.
But as in the movie, he once did serve time in the prison known as the Kyln—although
in the comics, he was locked up alongside none other than Thanos.
"I found something inside of myself, something incredibly heroic ."
Gamora
Rescued by Thanos after aliens killed her entire race, and trained to become the ultimate
assassin, Gamora's tragic backstory from the comics was made even more tragic by director
James Gunn — because it's Thanos himself who murders her family in the film version.
"You alienated my favorite daughter Gamora."
But Gunn did go a long way to empower Gamora in another way, redesigning Zoe Saldana's
costume so she looks more like a powerful warrior rather than a typical comic book swimsuit
model.
Ronan the Accuser
He's a deeply chilling, hammer-wielding villain bent on victory at any cost in the Guardians
of the Galaxy movie.
But in the comics he's a bit more complicated, not to mention jacked up: the Supreme Accuser
of the Kree Empire, Ronan is a career military man, fighting wars and delivering judgment
according to a strict internal moral code.
How complex is he?
Not only has he fought alongside Marvel heroes at times, Star-Lord actually once served as
his military advisor.
And, more importantly, his dance partner!
"Dance off, bro.
Me vs you"
"It's on."
Nebula
Karen Gillan, the actress cast to play Nebula, actually bears a bit of a resemblance to the
Nebula of the comics — minus the blue skin, of course.
But that's why it's a little weird that the filmmakers made her bald to play the role.
There are other differences, too: in the movie, Nebula is a loyal servant of Ronan the Accuser,
but in the comics, she's fought alongside Gamora and against both Ronan and Thanos.
Plus, she's doesn't share Professor X's hairline, so there's that.
Korath
In both the comics and movie, Korath is gruff, intense, and focused on the task at hand:
war, combat, and destruction.
As a sidekick in the movie, though, we don't really get to see much more of him, including
the fact that, in the comics, he's actually a brilliant scientist.
Instead, we mostly have to judge him by his cool fashion makeover: gone are the goofy
hat and blue skin of his comic book look, in favor of Djimon Honsou in futuristic barrettes
and spooky contact lenses.
The Collector
Benicio del Toro makes brief appearances in Thor: The Dark World and Guardians of the
Galaxy as the mysterious Collector.
While the scenes are played mostly for comedy, they also set up Marvel's franchise-wide Infinity
Stones plotline.
See, there's a reason he's collecting everything cool in the universe: to protect them from
Thanos.
"He's kinda like Noah from Noah's ark.
He believes that there is gonna be a big catastrophe in the galaxy and the whole universe and he
is collecting all these creatures to preserve them somehow."
Acting on that need to preserve, the Collector even tried to "collect" the Avengers in the
comics.
One thing he collected when he went from page to screen: a bit of a better fashion sense.
I mean, look at this guy...yikes.
Thanos
Thanos pretty much looks exactly the same in the movies as he does in the comics, which
is like a sinister wad of grape Bubble Yum with teeth.
In Guardians of the Galaxy, Gamora's desire to stop her adoptive father is a major reason
why the team is looking to protect and retrieve the Infinity Stone.
But while he's still a genocidal nihilist in the comics, he's also a better dad, even
giving Gamora nice Christmases when she was a little kid with the tree, presents — the
whole shebang.
He may be trying to destroy all life in the universe, but at least he's into hands-on
parenting.
"Fine, I'll do it myself."
That's the spirit!
You will do it yourself!
It's tough being a single dad, you guys.
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