Ever since it’s debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014, The Guardians of the Galaxy who were once among the lowest ranked heroes in Marvel have risen to be one of the most sought after by fans of comics, animations and movies. The anticipation of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is even crazier than usual, with fans gearing up and ready to run to the cinemas at a moment’s notice to get a sweet dose of all the action, comedy, quips, and of course Baby Groot that Starlord and his merry band of misfits will offer in their next adventure.
While you wait for May 6 to watch the Guardians of the Galaxy in action again before they team up with The Avengers to face Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, take a look at some facts you never knew about The Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and a bio of new characters added to the upcoming sequel – Vol.2.
The original GOTG
- Starlord and His band of misfits were not the original GOTG: First introduced in 1969 by writer Arnold Drake and artist Gene Colan, the first GOTG consisted of thousand-year-old astronaut Vance Astro, super strong Jupiter colonist Charlie-27, the Arrow-using Yondu, and diamond-skinned Martinex. However, in 2008, the GOTG was reinvented to the current crew members by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
J’son
- In the comics, Peter Quill’s father is Prince J’Son of the Spartoi Empire in contrast to Ego the Living Planet (played by Kurt Russell) as we’ll see in Vol. 2. J’Son’s spaceship crash-lands on Earth and Meredith Quill pulled him from the wreckage.
Ego the Living Planet
Meredith takes care of him until he is healthy and they end up falling in love, though J’Son departs from Earth without knowing that Meredith was pregnant and would eventually give birth to Peter Quill.
Peter Quill with his element gun
- In the film, Star-Lord’s favoured weapon is essentially an intergalactic stun gun; but in the comics, he wields the Element Gun, with the ability to fire all four elements – air, earth, water, and fire.
- Groot was exiled from his home planet – Planet X for destroying several members of his race when he caught them tormenting small mammals. While Rocket Racoon was originally genetically enhanced to essentially act as an intergalactic prison guard: the keeper of the Loonies, the insane humanoid inmates kept on the quarantined colony Halfword. His famous kinship with Groot, however, first grew out of his need for someone to carry his heavy set of artillery.
- Gamora was adopted by Thanos in both the comics and the film, but also altered her genetic makeup to give her enhanced speed, stamina, and agility; alongside an accelerated ability to recover from her injuries.
- In the comics, Drax was a human whose car was attacked during a trip through the Nevada desert by Thanos’ disciples. His family was killed during the attack while his soul was transferred to a new stronger body that Thanos’ father could use to destroy his rebellious son.
- Yondu was born and raised on Centauri-IV, the first planet outside of the Solar System to be colonised by humans. However, his people were slaughtered in an invasion, and he was captured and taken to Earth, where he began his adventures as a member of the first Guardians team. His tribe brought him up on a simple, hunting-based existence; his arrows are made of Yaka – a metal that can only be found on his planet – and, as we’ve seen in the films, are sonically controlled in flight by whistling.
- Mantis, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s newest member is both a psychic and counsellor; having been trained in the comics by the Priests of Pama deep in the Vietnamese jungle, ever since she was a young child in the comics. However, in Vol. 2, Mantis was made by Ego the living planet to be able to better amass knowledge and communicate appropriately with other lifeforms.
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