We’ve been following the news pretty closely lately concerning James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and some recent developments have revealed a lot more of the story. Rumors and casting announcements have been hitting fast lately, so we’ll try and speed through this as quickly as possible.
The first big rumor we’ll tackle is that John C. Reilly may be joining the cast as Rhomann Dey. Most sources mark this character as the Agent Coulson of the Guardians universe, which we can assume is basically the S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison for the team. The character’s true origins from the comic are quite a bit different.
Rhomann Dey is part of the Nova Corps, an intergalactic police force. he passes on his role and powers to Richard Rider, the first human Nova. There has been a lot of debate over whether we will see Nova in the MCU, so this rumor definitely peaked the interest of some fans. While the version of Dey that seems to fit in the MCu might have little to do with the Nova Corps, if Reilly does take the role, he might be another humorous aspect to look forward to in the MCU. Screen Rant has more on Dey’s role:
[box_light]Knowing that the film will take place “95% in space” according to James Gunn and Marvel Studios Pres Kevin Feige, the role may be limited, but it’ll be recurring as a long-term contract for multiple pictures. HitFix describes Dey as the Agent Coulson of the Guardians, but he’s not the only key human character. He may have a partner also liaising for the Guardians of the Galaxy and the names of interest include Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman and Ken Watanabe. All four actors would be welcome additions to the Marvel franchise.[/box_light]
There was also a ton of info revealed that SR summarized for us:
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Rocket Raccoon will be joined by fellow intelligent animal from the planet Halfworld, Wal Russ (pictured above), when he first appears in the movie. The two are guards of The Keystone Quadrant, a sectioned off star system for the criminally insane where animals were genetically engineered with bipedal walking abilities and human-level intelligence to serve as caretakers. Moviegoers may be in for some wacky characters (see: Cosmo the space dog).
The other key piece of info is yet another villain rumor, joining the list that already includes The Collector, The Controller and most recently, Ronan the Accuser. Thanos will be involved in the film, much like he will for The Avengers 2, but he won’t be the main antagonist, instead serving as the big baddie behind the scenes. HitFix claims that Michael Rooker’s Yondu Udonta is the main bad guy (described as a “space pirate”), a major deviation from the comics where Yondu is actually one of the original Guardians and a good guy.
Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies) may not be playing the main villain either as previously reported, as his character may start as a threat but “switch sides” during the film. We don’t know who he’s playing yet but he may be being set up for a future spinoff film of his own, hinting that he could be playing someone like Captain Mar-Vell (who has connections with Ronan the Accuser and the Kree alien empire) or Adam Warlock (a crucial character involved with the Infinity Gauntlet Thanos is after – as seen in Thor). The other, less likely possibility is that he’s playing Black Bolt, leader of The Inhumans which may be a Phase Three Marvel film.[/box_light]
So a few interesting things here, like Michael Rooker’s Yondu as the villain and a very probable appearance by Lee Pace as Adam Warlock. Warlock would fit well in the developing plans of the MCU, as he has a long and storied history with big baddie Thanos. Another point to focus on is the possible inclusion of Ronan the Accuser, which would introduce the Kree to the MCU. this is a big move and necessary in order to see some other characters like Captain Marvel and Carol Danvers make their appearance.
But that still leaves the question of Nova…
Which was answered recently as it was announced that Glenn Close has signed on to the film. She will be playing a leading member of the Nova Corps, which confirms their inclusion in the MCU. This is great news for fans of the character and opens up the possibility of a stand alone Nova film featuring either Richard Rider or the current Nova, Sam Alexander. Not much word yet on how Glenn Close or the Nova Corps fit into the story, but with all the different characters featured, it looks like Guardians of the Galaxy is acting as Marvel’s cosmic springboard. We’ll keep you posted as we see more news from GotG.
What do you think of the direction the film is taking? Excited or disgusted at the mention of the Nova Corps? Sound off in the comment section below!
Grizzly Bomb 