This evening, theaters around the country are giving audiences an early, extended look at Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Studios, Disney and James Gunn have teamed up to package 17-minutes of the finished film for special first come-first served screenings, meaning that after tonight there will be a good number of people who have a great deal of awareness about what exactly is going on in the sci-fi adventure film. I would imagine that some of you are very upset that you couldn't make it out to a showing tonight, but the great news is that we have one hell of a consolation prize.
Fandango has debuted a very special new spot for Guardians of the Galaxy. Not just a trailer and not just a clip, this is really a full on look at everything that is the next Marvel Studios film, rocking to the beat of "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways. Plus, we finally get our first official look at The Walking Dead's Michael Rooker as Yondu!
Of course, a conversation about this new video is incomplete without talking about the extended scene, because it is fantastic. We've seen some of this verbal sparring in the previous trailers, it's amazing to see how well it flows between the ensemble cast ("So what it's better than 11%? What does that have to do with anything?") Not only does it show off the weird/awesome bond between Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), it totally accentuates just how utterly bizarre these characters are. Groot is actually eating himself! The movie will certainly have its more dramatic moments - there is an important mention of losing loved ones stuck in there - but if this is a large indication of Guardians of the Galaxy's tone, then the film may end up being one of the best comedies of the summer.
Beyond that sequence, this Guardians of the Galaxy spot also offers up two new things that no other footage has delivered: dialogue from Lee Pace's Ronan The Accuser. While Marvel Studios has a habit of keeping their non-Loki villains in the shadows, Ronan has been practically invisible in the Guardians marketing, instead giving the spotlight over to Karen Gillan's Nebula and Djimon Hounsou's Korath The Pursuer.
In addition to the actors mentioned above, Guardians of the Galaxy also stars Chris Pratt (as Star Lord), Dave Bautista (as Drax The Destroyer), John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Sean Gunn, Peter Serafinowicz and Benicio Del Toro. Look for it in theaters August 1st.
