Guardians of the Galaxy List of possible storylines that could influence the film

[Mr. Dent]

Thought it would be helpful to compile a list of all the storylines that Gunn and co. could possibly pull from for use in the films. As we know, even though Marvel Studios' movies use original stories, very little of what happens in their films don't happen in the comics. Almost every major plot point in the Avengers can be traced back to the comics. Same with Iron Man, Cap, and Thor. Therefore, this list should give us a good template to pick and choose from in terms of what Marvel will be doing. Feel free to post some more possible storylines I may have missed.

-Marvel Preview #4: Star-Lord's origin story

Self-explanatory. They'll cut out a lot of the cheese like the Master of the Sun, but the same concept of Quill being an astronaut/pilot who ends up in space will be the same.

-The Original Thanos Saga - Iron Man #55, Captain Marvel #25-29, Marvell Feature #12, Daredevil #107, Captain Marvel #30-33, Avengers #125:

Starts in Iron Man 55. Drax sends a distress signal to Iron Man as he is being held captive by Thanos. Iron Man comes to help and they defeat a decoy of Thanos. Explains Drax was created for the sole purpose of killing Thanos. It is also explained that Thanos led a genocide against his home world with an army of aliens he gathered in order to impress Death. He then came to Earth seeking the Cosmic Cube in order to gain universal power. After Drax and Iron Man escape, Thanos then plots against Captain Marvel in order to gain possession of the Cosmic Cube, and once he obtains it he becomes near omnipotent, but he is eventually defeated by Captain Marvel and the Avengers.

The entire Avengers movie can be seen as a loose reference to the latter half of the story, where Thanos comes to Earth seeking the Cosmic Cube. In the movie, of course, he uses his alien army to invade the planet through Loki and needs the Cube in order to reach Earth. In the Guardians film I'm only expecting Thanos and Drax's backgrounds to be used, in slightly altered ways. The Iron Man bit will probably be represented in the IM3 after-credits scene.

-The Magus Saga - Strange Tales #178-181, Warlock #9-11, Marvel Team-Up #55, Avengers Annual #7, Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2

Introduces and explains Gamora's background and uses the Universal Church of Truth and Magus as the primary antagonists. Thanos and Gamora help Adam Warlock to take down the Church and Magus. Thanos betrays them at the end and uses Warlock's soul gem along with the other Infinity gems to create a weapon that can destroy a star so he can reunite with Death. Warlock calls the Avengers to stop him.

I think the main conflict of the film will be primarily based off of this storyline, with changes made to properly incorporate the other Guardians. If not the main conflict, then they will at least keep Gamora's background as being an orphan who was taken in by Thanos after he wiped out her race. Interestingly, Joss Whedon has specifically talked about the Avengers Annual and Marve Two-In-One Annual event issues in an interview about why Thanos showed up at the end of the Avengers...that's probably more relevant to Avengers 2 though of course.

Also, Gamora technically dies at the end of this storyline...keep that in mind.

-The Thanos Quest: Thanos sets out to collect the Infinity Gems on behest of Death in order to create the Infinity Gauntlet.

If Thanos is doing anything in the film it will be related to gathering the Infinity Gems in order to get to Earth and challenge the Avengers. His journey won't be anything like the one in Thanos Quest, but it will be the same basic concept. The question is whether or not that means working with or against the Guardians...or more specifically Star-Lord I guess.

-Annihilation: The event that brought the Guardians together.

Don't think the movie will really be anything like Annihilation (it really can't) but the idea of this galactic event that nearly brought the galaxy down causing Star-Lord to assemble the Guardians will be the same. Some things like Thanos teaming up with certain people for his own goals which influence this galactic conflict could also be used.

-The Thanos Imperative: If there's any storyline in DnA's run that will influence the film, it's this one. It can't be a straight up adaptation of course, but it would work well in some ways alongside Jim Starlin's original Magus Saga storyline as a lot of the story elements are similar (the Magus, Thanos, and Universal Church of Truth all being involved in the storyline). The plot itself as a basis won't work at all as Thanos is resurrected by the Church and such, but the concept of the Guardians having a direct confrontation with Thanos could and most likely will be used in the film. Only problem with this is that Marvel runs the risk of diluting either Thanos, who is supposed to be the big bad in Avengers 2, or the Guardians, who would look pretty silly and weak if they were to beaten in their first film together. Because of this I'm not sure if the Imperative is a proper storyline to use in the film outside of some very little conflict between Drax and Thanos. This seems more appropriate for a second film.

However, after further thought, I can see why Marvel would hire a director like Gunn to helm this if they were planning for something like this to happen...a major theme of Thano's character is death and nihilism. A movie that has Thanos in it without death wouldn't seem right. I know a lot of people don't think the Guardians should be beaten much less killed, but don't be surprised if one or two of them go down.

 

[mkilban2]

nice post, for a person not knowing much about the GotG this was a cool read of background information and mindset of how the movie could pan out.

 

[Mr. Dent]

To sum up my own amalgamation, I'm imagining a combination of The Magus Saga with the Church being the main point of contention combined with an Annihilation-esque galaxy wide conflict, which the Church will have a direct hand in causing. Thanos will be at the heart of the conflict as well and will align himself with whatever party best suits his interest in terms of gaining the Infinity Gems (which I'm going to go on a limb and say will be what the whole galaxy is after), which is directly from Thanos Quest. In the end Thanos will betray whoever he is working with and take the Gems for himself.

The Thanos Imperative is an x-factor...if they use it, the only elements they can pull from it is a direct confrontation between Thanos and the Guardians, which is liable to happen no matter what unless Thanos just betrays them and runs right away, which would be pretty lame. If they do this, the only way I see it ending is in the Guardians being decimated and Drax and Gamora being killed (it matches the comics as Gamora was technically killed by Thanos in the Magus Saga and Drax was killed in the Imperative itself). The rumors of the IM3 after credits scene support something like this happening though. If they go this route, then the film will probably have a very different tone throughout the entire film than what a lot of people are expecting. Makes sense to hire Gunn, a guy whose most acclaimed film was a twisted sci-fi horror-comedy, if they were to go this route...Joss actually called Gunn's take on Guardians twisted...holy ****.

nice post, for a person not knowing much about the GotG this was a cool read of background information and mindset of how the movie could pan out.

Thanks, hope this catches on and helps people.

 

[mkilban2]

I think they could possibly get away without diluting thanos or the gotg crew where you said this:

"but the concept of the Guardians having a direct confrontation with Thanos could and most likely will be used in the film. Only problem with this is that Marvel runs the risk of diluting either Thanos, who is supposed to be the big bad in Avengers 2, or the Guardians, who would look pretty silly and weak if they were to beaten in their first film together. Because of this I'm not sure if the Imperative is a proper storyline to use in the film outside of some very little conflict between Drax and Thanos. This seems more appropriate for a second film."

I was thinking maybe they build up the entire movie with possible individual tries to beat Thanos where each member or a few members together fail, then they group up at the end and go to take him on, some sort of scuffle ensues where each side is almost even, then something happens where the fight is stalled (maybe Thanos gets word of his gems/gauntlet and leaves) and where GotG are beat up a bit, hence sending a distress signal to Tony that this threat is bigger than they can handle alone and heading towards Earth.. idk just an idea I had lol

 

[Mr. Dent]

I was thinking maybe they build up the entire movie with possible individual tries to beat Thanos where each member or a few members together fail, then they group up at the end and go to take him on, some sort of scuffle ensues where each side is almost even, then something happens where the fight is stalled (maybe Thanos gets word of his gems/gauntlet and leaves) and where GotG are beat up a bit, hence sending a distress signal to Tony that this threat is bigger than they can handle alone and heading towards Earth.. idk just an idea I had lol

Hmm, doesn't sound like a good enough solution or plot to me honestly. I'm assuming that Thanos will not be a direct enemy of the Guardians/Star-Lord for a majority of the film and only really becomes a direct threat after he gets what he wants. The way I see it, Thanos will be more like an anti-hero for most of the film rather than a direct antagonist, which is how his character should be played out anyway. He is devious and cunning.

Honestly, the more I think about it the more I can see them killing Gamora and Drax. This would be a problem if they approach the movie from the stand point of "this is a superhero team meant to thwart evil", but I don't think it will be like that. It will be something much more complex. Honestly I can see a lot of people...mainly parents...ending up being pissed off by how the film will be marketed vs. what we get. I think it will be awesome for the fans though.

 

[mkilban2]

I can see that.. like Thanos joins this rag-tag group of space warriors that are fighting in the name of good because he hears the enemy they face has something he wants. So he groups with them in order to get close enough then shows his true colors or something along those lines.

I have a hard time visually imagining this movie and the characters, 3 normal sized human-like bodys, a raccoon, and a large tree. Plus Thanos who should be at least as big as the Hulk mass/muscle wise but taller and leaner (if that makes sense, like just as jacked but with more body length to fill it out.) It's going to be like nothing we've seen before haha I can't wait!

 

[Mr. Dent]

Definitely lol. Although Thanos is definitely not going to be as big as the Hulk. He'll probably be a little bigger than Drax. About 2-3 inches taller and a bit wider.

 

[KangConquers]

I think we might see influence from the forth-coming comic book, with Jason of Spartax and the Badoon coming into play.

 

[InternetPeople]

My thoughts... Star Lord is a pilot who ends up in space. He meets up with Rocket and Groot in some way (I have never read the comics but I am sure there are elements from the comics that can be used to create a compelling story for this stuff.)

Drax is a powerful warrior from a planet that Thanos destroys to try and please Death. He finds a baby girl and raises her as his assassin. Her name is Gamora and daughter of Drax. Drax is badly injured by Thanos but survives and makes it his quest in life to destroy Thanos for killing his family. Drax is unaware that his daughter lives.

Thanos and Gamora use Star Lord, Groot and Rocket to fight a common enemy, maybe the Church who possesses the Soul Gem (Warlock going back in time will be weird to follow so I am not sure the Magus/Warlock story from the comics will translate to the screen easily however the films can change a bit of that story to make it work). The current Guardians are unaware of who Thanos is and are happy for his and Gamora's assistance. Drax attacks Thanos but Gamora protects him. Gamora/Drax fight. Drax is about to kill Gamora until she says something/he realizes they are father-daughter. Thanos skips town leaving Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax together to figure out what is going on. Drax informs the group of what Thanos is, turning Gamora against her former master. Guardians of the Galaxy are formed with the goal of stopping Thanos.

While all that is happening the Other is acquiring the Infinity Gauntlet from Odin's treasure room which needs to be looted (Dr. Strange's Eye and Orb of Agamoto are in there along with the Flame of Surtur and some stuff necessary for other stories). The Church of Truth will ultimately be defeated and the Soul Gem will fall into someones possession (Warlock or Thanos). Thanos then heads to Earth for another Gem perhaps leading The Guardians to Earth and alerting the Avengers for the second film.

I expect Thanos and the full group of Guardians to fight without any deaths. Drax and Gamora will need to get their revenge and killing them off will be strange. Maybe in a future Guardians film Drax will die in a mutual death with Thanos but that certainly can't happen in the first film. If Drax's only goal in life is to kill Thanos, it would suck to have that be a miserable failure in the first film.

I don't believe the Guardians film can start with all five members together from the beginning. I also think the best way to develop Thanos is to have him the anti-villain similar to how they introduced Loki in Thor. In film, most antagonists are shallow characters because the audience is not meant to invest much time in a character who will only appear on screen to get beat up. Thanos, like Loki, is supposed to be around for a while and will require some development. Making him work with the protagonists accomplishes this task.

 

[Mr. Dent]

^ I really like your train of thought. The only things I would disagree with is as follows:

-Thanos isn't just going after the Soul Gem but all the gems in the film, and he goes to Earth specifically to take on the Avengers, not find another gem

-Thanos DOES kill off Gamora or Drax, or both. Thanos' entire character is based around death and nihilism, and if you don't have him kill at least one of the Guardians you're undermining his character and not portraying him as big a threat as he should be. Gamora and Drax don't HAVE to have their revenge for the story to work as the film isn't primarily about them. If the approach fo the film were going to be that this is a team coming together to triumph over evil in the galaxy, then it might be a problem to have the Guardians fail so epically in their first film, but I don't believe that will be the case. It will be a case of selfish people banding together to accomplish a common goal...that approach opens up a lot of leeway in terms of what the film is allowed to do with the characters in it.

 

[InternetPeople]

How about Thanos killing some folks in the Church to acquire the gem? Thanos killing Gamora could work to piss off Drax some more, but killing Drax would suck. Killing Drax means someone else has to kill Thanos. Who gets the task (honor?) that was originally designed specifically for the guy you already killed off? Thanos isn't killed in the Avengers film either and takes the Guardians on a merry chase around the galaxy to introduce some more characters and locations.

Where are all the Gems located? If they are spread all over the galaxies, then having Thanos attempting to acquire them all at the same time would be too much for a single film. Thanos running around the galaxy acquiring Gems could lead to a second confrontation with the Avengers (Avengers + Guardians will defeat, or at least fend off, Thanos in the first film) in a future film. Maybe after Thanos is powered up with more Gems he goes back to Earth to destroy the folks that defeated him earlier. By then the Avengers and Guardians lineups could be different leading to a different fight with Thanos (rather than just re-doing the first film).

 

[Mr. Dent]

I was thinking the Church would have all the gems; that way the plot wouldn't be Thanos scouring the cosmos for them like in Thanos Quest.

Also, Thanos doesn't necessarily have to be killed off...he can't really, so to speak, because the gems/cosmic cube make him nigh invulnerable. The only way for the Avengers to defeat Thanos is to trick him like they did in their two confrontations with him in the comics and have his own power backlash on him. Drax shouldn't really be able to realistically kill Thanos while he has possession of the gems/Cosmic Cube.

As for Thanos killing off random Church members to get across how dangerous he is...that's a cop out to me. In order to truly express just how messed up and dangerous of a threat Thanos is, Drax/Gamora HAVE to die in my mind...just like I think at least one of the Avengers has to die in Avengers 2. It's the only way to truly honor Thanos' character.

 

[The Villain]

What about Michael Korvac? While not the most well known villain, I believe he would be a very powerful, very dangerous villain.

Thanos is a great foe but maybe it would have been a nicer idea to use Korvac for first film?

 

[fixxxer]

Love this thread. Kudos, Mr. Mr. Dent.

Here’s my take:

On Thanos’ Backstory
Big. Purple. Scarier-than-Hell. Completely insane. Obsessed with Death. Carry on.

Star-Lord’s Origin
Take Star Lord’s origin from the GOTG 0.1 Marvel Now comic. Though we don’t need to delve into his ‘birth’ origin till later in the movie. As Mr. Dent mentioned, a version of the Marvel Preview #4 backstory could be tweaked enough to fit the movie.

Drax / Gamora
I like the idea of not making Drax human. In fact, I love the idea of Drax and Gamora being of the same species. Too many of Marvel’s cosmic folks have (somewhat) redundant Earth-bound origins. Also, explains their peculiar shade of green.

I wouldn’t, however, make them father and daughter though since that could possibly diminish a possible Moondragon storyline. I’m also not sure how a dad/daughter dynamic would play out on the team... Drax’s to-do list: (a) Kill Thanos (b) Tell idiot daughter to put some clothes on!

Plot Overview
I would actually make the plot akin to the IG series, where Thanos is going around the galaxy collecting the Infinity Gems, but in this version, it’s the Guardians running around attempting to stop him from completing the gauntlet.

Act I – Quill on Earth / Star Lord in the Galaxy
Covered above.

Act II – Destruction of Gamora’s and Drax’s Homeworld (about 15 years in the past)
It’s pretty much an idyllic day on Zen-Whoberi (had to look that one up ) when Thanos attacks and rains fire and brimstone on the planet and utterly destroys it, along with Drax and his family. Thanos also adopts a young Zen-Whoberian (Gamora) as a lark.

Now, the reason behind Thanos’ attack is that a cosmic entity (pick anyone from Marvel’s ledger) holds one of the Infinity Gems and is hiding out on the planet disguised as a common Zen-Whoberian. Said cosmic entity, with his/her dying breath, resurrects Drax granting him terrible power and singular purpose.

Act III – GoTG!
Drax, Gamora, Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon and Sapling Groot somehow meet up and come to the conclusion that Thanos must be stopped… admittedly I haven’t fleshed this part out fully.

Due to some misunderstanding (possibly a ruse perpetrated by Thanos) the Guardians are thought to be criminals and are pursued by the Nova Corps. So the Guardians are being chased across the galaxy, pursued by the Corps, while in parallel trying to thwart Thanos’ gem-stealing shenanigans.

Act IV – Showdown
Nova and co. finally figure out that Thanos is actually the villain and team up with the Guardians to take down Thanos. Thanos deploys his minions to battle the Nova Corps while he tackles the GoTG himself. Hey, the movie's title is GoTG, not Nova and the GoTG.

Epic battle ensues.

Act V - Consclusion
Drax comes close to killing Thanos, but not quite. The IG is assembled. Star Lord merely says, “we failed” and sends out a signal to Earth since they somehow come to know that Earth is central to Thanos’ subsequent plans. It now becomes clear that the GoTG plot was running alongside the events of IM3, and that this was the signal that Stark received at the end of IM3.

 

[Mr. Dent]

What about Michael Korvac? While not the most well known villain, I believe he would be a very powerful, very dangerous villain.

Thanos is a great foe but maybe it would have been a nicer idea to use Korvac for first film?

I didn't mention Korvac because he was not used in any of the stories featuring these Guardian characters and Thanos. I doubt we see him in this movie...and Thanos is not necessarily the villain.

Drax / Gamora
I like the idea of not making Drax human. In fact, I love the idea of Drax and Gamora being of the same species. Too many of Marvel’s cosmic folks have (somewhat) redundant Earth-bound origins. Also, explains their peculiar shade of green.

I think Drax is going to be some type of android. Looking at the concept art, it looks like Drax has metal plating for his arms and face. Maybe he was badly injured when Thanos attacked his planet and someone put him back together to kill Thanos?

 

[fixxxer]

I think Drax is going to be some type of android. Looking at the concept art, it looks like Drax has metal plating for his arms and face. Maybe he was badly injured when Thanos attacked his planet and someone put him back together to kill Thanos?

Yea, from the concept art, that does look like a possibility, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I think the core of getting Drax right would be to portray him as someone whose family (and in this take, his entire world) has been taken from him, and how this rage has been channelled into his singular need to kill Thanos.

Plus, we already have an Iron Man... well three now, including Rhodes and Pepper.

 

[Mr. Dent]

They could do that without making him human.

 

[fixxxer]

They could do that without making him human.

I think I misunderstood. The ol' android/cyborg confusion.

 

[Mr. Dent]

Ah okay. Yeah I didn't mean he'd start out as one lol. Just that that would be the explanation behind how he was "revived", rather than what happened in the comics where he was literally revived and rebirthed by a celestial being.

 

[fixxxer]

Ah okay. Yeah I didn't mean he'd start out as one lol. Just that that would be the explanation behind how he was "revived", rather than what happened in the comics where he was literally revived and rebirthed by a celestial being.

Understood. I can see your point... adding celestials, abstracts, the undead, and miscellaneous all-powerful cosmic beings to the MCU would be opening up a can of horribly confusing worms.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

^I dont see how personally, they could just say in the movie Drax was rebirthed by a cosmic being with immense power without having to really go into it.

It would just give fans a hint of what else is out there though, and then later movies could maybe go into the celestials, etc a bit more. Afterall, I think the reason Marvel is doing this is to introduce things like celestials into the MCU.

 

[Mr. Dent]

Understood. I can see your point... adding celestials, abstracts, the undead, and miscellaneous all-powerful cosmic beings to the MCU would be opening up a can of horribly confusing worms.

Yeah, too much derp at once.

^I dont see how personally, they could just say in the movie Drax was rebirthed by a cosmic being with immense power without having to really go into it.

It would just give fans a hint of what else is out there though, and then later movies could maybe go into the celestials, etc a bit more. Afterall, I think the reason Marvel is doing this is to introduce things like celestials into the MCU.

This sounds horrible and cheesy. No one would buy some guy being revived by a celestial being and we never know how, why, or who did it. It would just come out wrong in a movie.

The problem with using what happened in the comics, is it sounds corny, cheesy, terrible for a movie, and would be hard to fit in with everything else going on as well. Mentor and Kronos revived Drax by catching his spirit, as he was killed by Thanos on Earth...that's beyond pushing it. It would make more sense to just have him be a reconstructed alien through advanced cybernetics.

 

[hopeless]

So Star Lord is a *****e bag who ends up on a ship thats been stolen by escaped prisoners carrying something everybody wants?

I'd say Warlock but I doubt it would be that simple.

Now if Gamora assisted the break out to help her father obtain Warlock's soul gem but will eventually have to betray the others since Drax would certainly revolt if he learnt who she truly serves.

I figure Thanos will kill Gamora out of hand since accomplishing her mission is all that matters to him.

Now I'd rather they not use Thanos as the main villain merely hint at his presence and use his forces to make it clear not only how much power he has but the forces he wields are nothing compared to Thanos himself.

So will they use Warlock or have him in suspended animation until some idiot (Starlord maybe?) releases him and we learn he was placed in stasis by an alternate future version of himself whose in command of the Church that imprisoned everyone else and they will do anything to serve their "god" whose plans are being manipulated by Thanos whose using the Church to locate and secure the Infinity Gems.

Starlord earns his name helping keep Warlock out of the Church and Thanos's hands and Gamora is betrayed by Nebula who sees her a rival unknowingly setting up her own betrayal by Thanos when she leads Gamora to believe her adopted father has betrayed her.

What I'm having difficulty with is understanding how this can be pulled together as without Mantis how can a *****ebag like Starlord was originally depicted get the Guardians to form up with him leading them?

I've been reading the latest series which I think is great but would like to know when did this team begin to gel and are they still harking back to Mantis and her mind alteration?