Fans eager to see what Marvel Studios has up their sleeve with Guardians of the Galaxy are in luck, because we now have word that the hotly anticipated first trailer for the film will debut next week, on February 18th. Guardians is Marvel’s riskiest bet yet, since it’s based on a comic few have ever heard of that features a ragtag group of cosmic ex-cons whose roster includes the green-skinned Gamora (Zoe Saldana), a talking raccoon named Rocket (Bradley Cooper), the dangerous Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), a walking tree named Groot (Vin Diesel), and Parks and Recreation‘s Chris Pratt as the leader, Star-Lord.
We originally believed that Disney would air the trailer, or at least a teasing TV spot, during the Super Bowl, but the studio decided to market several of its other upcoming releases instead, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Muppets Most Wanted and Need for Speed. According to Screen Rant, the news of the trailer debut comes from a mistake made by Yahoo Singapore, who tweeted the information before promptly deleting it.
Directed by James Gunn (Super), Guardians opens on August 1, 2014 and so far, we’ve only seen a few brief glimpses at the film (like the image above). Once the trailer debuts, expect marketing to go into full swing as Guardians is the last superhero film of the year and one that Marvel and Disney will really need to sell to casual audiences. At this point, it’s safe to assume that Marvel Studios has garnered quite the devoted following, so as long as they slap that red Marvel logo in front of the trailer, people will go see it.
To tide you over until the 18th, Screen Rant has also provided a pretty cool concept animation featuring Rocket Raccoon on the shoulders of Groot. This is supposedly an incomplete version of the characters, but it does give us an idea of what Gunn is going for.
Are you excited for Guardians of the Galaxy? Do you think Marvel will find success with the high-concept property, or is this too bold a move for the studio? Let us know in the comments below!
