Guardians of the Galaxy Fun Facts

Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” finds space adventurer Peter Quill the object of a bounty hunt after stealing an orb coveted by a treacherous villain, but when Quill discovers the power it holds, he must find a way to rally the quartet of ragtag rivals hot on his trail to save the universe.

 7 Guardians of the Galaxy Fun Facts

1. Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” first appeared in comic books in Marvel Super-Heroes, Issue #18 (Jan. 1969) and was created by Arnold Drake and Gene Colan. The modern Guardians team is the second to be featured under the name, and first appeared in “Guardians of the Galaxy, (Vol. 2) Issue #1 (May 2008). Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning created the new team, whose initial Guardians were Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Quasar, Adam Warlock, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer and Groot.

2. Director James Gunn created a stimulating atmosphere by playing the film’s score while filming. Gunn had composer Tyler Bates complete some of the tracks early on and playing them added to the uplifting and congenial atmosphere on set, as well as setting the tone for the scenes. Along with tracks from the film’s original score, Gunn also had the sound department pump out the ’70s tunes that Peter Quill, played by Chris Pratt, plays on his old cassette player.

3. Finding the perfect cassette player to use in the film was a challenge that fell to prop master Barry Gibbs. Despite searching all over the Internet for four months, Gibbs’ team was able to find only 16 cassette players in various states of repair that were suitable to use in the film.

4.  The design of the Milano, Peter Quill’s spaceship, was inspired by the Bell Aircraft X-1 rocket plane piloted by Chuck Yeager. Constructed as a double-level composite set, with an upper flight deck and lower living quarters, it was a 14- week build involving several trades. Charles Wood and his team followed director James Gunn’s instructions that Quill’s environment be reminiscent of Earth and have a tangible quality—mechanical with chrome and leather and a muscle-car look.

5. The production design team also crafted the Dark Aster, the villain Ronan’s spaceship. Suggestive of a flying mausoleum, the design is minimal and brutal. It is a stark, gray, colorless world devoid of any set dressing whatsoever that relies purely on its heavy concrete-like architecture to convey its tone and function.

6. Former WWE champ Dave Bautista plays Drax the Destroyer. Drax’s life story is told by his full body tattoos/scarification, a prosthetics make-up process that saw Bautista endure a 4-hour daily session in the chair, or rather on foot, as he could not sit during the process. It took a team of five makeup artists to complete Bautista’s makeup application, which consisted of 18 pieces for the body and face. By the end of shoot, Dave Bautista had totaled about seven entire days in make-up.

7. Karen Gillan had her long hair cut off and head shaved for the role of Nebula and Benicio Del Toro allowed his dark hair and eyebrows to be bleached white for his role as The Collector.