The Guardians of the Galaxy trailer showed us some well-known and loved characters. Only a few of them were given any dialogue, but some were shown in action. That action actually tells us a lot about the characters. Are they much like they were in the comics? What about how they look? Some of them passed our test with flying colors and some of them took home “average” grades…while one sort of flopped and really didn’t pass the test. Let’s take a look at each and see who made the grade!
Groot
In the trailer, we saw a little bit of Groot’s fighting. He threw a guy, which is basic Groot action. The big thing, though, is that Rocket Raccoon was on his shoulder when they were in combat because this is a big part of the comics. Not only have they often fought at each other’s side, but Rocket is known to be on Groot’s shoulder during battle. As for Groot’s look, he’s not as tall as many would like him to be; however, Groot isn’t always 25 feet tall. He’s spent plenty of time around 9 feet, so his height really isn’t an issue. Same goes for his look. For someone like Groot, the basic look varies from artist to artist. As long as he looks like a tree, he’s fine…and he does look like a tree in the trailer. Fanboys might want a little more height on him, but overall Groot receives an A on a smooth transition, keeping most of the important Groot qualities, from the panels of the comics to the silver screen!
Rocket Raccoon
Rocket is shown to be nonchalant yet still somewhat sarcastic when he is in the line-up in the trailer. This is exactly how he is in the comics: he either doesn’t care at all or he makes fun of a situation. He’s only serious in severe situations. Since we already covered his combat in Groot’s comparison (above), there’s no real need to revisit it. As for his look, he’s a raccoon who wears athletic/combat clothes. Often in the comics, he’s seen in uniform, but since the entire crew is out of uniform and in their street clothes at this point, we can’t hold that against him! Otherwise, he’s spot on in the trailer earning an A grade for Rocket Raccoon!
Gamora
In the line-up in the trailer, Gamora is shown to have a sort of “I could easily kill you” attitude, just judging from her facial expression. That’s pretty much how she is in the comics…because she can kill pretty much anyone with ease. She is shown to be a strong warrior, which fits her since she is known to be the most feared woman in the galaxy. Her look is a little off, however. She is known to have pale-green skin with gold rings around her eyes and almost no clothing. In the trailer, the green is darker, she doesn’t have the gold rings and she wears more clothing. The clothing isn’t an issue since there are a variety of incarnations where she is wearing more tactical clothing; her skin may just be darker due to lighting; but the golden rings are sort of a signature of hers, so it’s disappointing to see her without them in the trailer. While her attitude is seemingly consistent, as seen in her death stare, the lack of her signature gold rings brings Gamora from what otherwise might have been an A or a B grade down to a C.
Drax
Drax looks fierce and void of emotion in the trailer, and that’s how he is in the comics. His only true care, up until recent years, is his deceased family and avenging them. While not much can be drawn from what we saw, he seems to be done right. The little bit of fighting that was shown was exactly like his comic book fighting style, an his look is exactly as it is in the comics–bald, buff and green with red tattoos/markings! Not much was changed on looks or personality/combat, earning Drax a solid A+!
Starlord
In the trailer, Starlord was the epitome of sarcasm, and this isn’t what comic fans are used to. In general, he is a good balance between sarcastic and serious. Maybe (hopefully) he will get some heavy development in the film. His fighting in the trailer, from what we can see, is pretty much how he fights in the comics. It didn’t show much gun action for him, but it showed that he does use his guns. As for his looks, he looks pretty close to the comics. The side-view that we saw of his helmet is almost exactly like it is in the comics, except it opens at the top and shows his hair. That really isn’t an issue. His red coat isn’t anything that he’s been known to wear in the comics, but that’s because he was mainly seen in a uniform when everyone else was in uniform, so we’ve got to let that go too. His look is close enough to the comics, although not a perfect match. A C grade for Starlord–mostly due to his sarcasm only approach–but that’s based only on the little bit we did see in the trailer; if those shots were just jumping off points for his character and further development occurs (like we hope), he could easily move into a B grade.
Korath
The trailer showed Korath to be very serious and ready for combat. That’s how he is in the comics, so it doesn’t seem that they really deviated. Combat wasn’t really shown, so there can’t really be much of a comparison with that at this point. His look, however, was completely different from the comics. There was not a single thing from the comics that they got right. In the comics he had no facial hair, wore a brown suit, wore a helmet, and had blue skin. In the trailer he had facial hair, grey armor, a grey head-piece (that wasn’t a helmet), and dark brown skin. They completely deviated from the comics, so as of now, we must bestow Korath with a failing grade of F.
Nebula
Nebula seemed ruthless in the trailer, which is exactly how she tends to be in the comics. She is also one of the people who can actually hold her own with Gamora (above), which was briefly shown in the trailer. Except for minor details, her look was exactly the same as her modern comic book look–bald, blue skin, bionic arm, etc. They seem to have gotten her just as right as they got Drax (above). A+, Nebula!
Overall, the transitions from comic-to-film worked well enough, retaining (for the most part) the important details. However, there were a few places they slipped up (Gamora’s gold rings and basically everything on Korath…) earning them a B average overall. But future trailers are sure to show more footage of these characters, and of some new characters as well. When that happens, you can expect to see more comparisons and (hopefully) better grades!
How do you think they did on turning these comic book legends into fleshed out characters for the silver screen? Let us know in the comments!
This post written for Nerdy Minds Magazine by Lance Mealer of Morphinominal and previously of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Want to see more like this? Please share this post on your social networking sites to help spread the word on Nerdy Minds (we’re new here)! You can also follow Nerdy Minds on Twitter, like Nerdy Minds on Facebook (be sure to click “Get Notifications”), and even subscribe to have each new post delivered straight to your inbox!
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