It is possible to think that the consolidation of the marvel universethe one that endorsed the kamikaze confidence of Kevin Feige in replicating the serial narrative of the cartoons with the cinema, did not come with The Avengers in 2012 but two years later. Was when Marvel Studios premiere Guardians of the Galaxybased on a relatively unknown brand that, despite having been coined at the end of the 60s, gave rise to that film according to a refoundation that had taken place only seven years later.
Drax, Gamora either Yondu they were characters with a long history in comics (thanks, in the case of the last two, to their conflicts with Thanos), but names like Groot, Rocket either star-lord they were much more unknown. Hence James Gunn (with co-writer Nicole Perlmann) had considerable freedom to do what he wanted with them, delivering a distinctive vision full of personality that led us to a curious position: the Guardians of the Galaxy they were more cinematographic than comic. The MCU was sweeping the box office with characters that a lot of people didn’t know about before.
This achievement has not only led to reappearances of the Guardians in other Marvel films and the development of two sequels (the latest, the volume 3, just released assuming Gunn’s Marvel farewell); but also because the author’s vision of slither is more canonical than the comics, and determines its appearance in foreign media. that’s why in 2017same year as Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2the graphic adventure was published Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.
And two years ago, without leaving video games, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a critical and sales success to its marketing in playstation, xbox and pc. The protagonists of it were also taken directly from the movies of Marvel Studios. With slight differences.
antiheroic video games
Videogames based on superheroic licenses are a bit like movies based on videogames: it took a while for them to start to materialize, but when they did they have become a very profitable asset for the industry. In the case of the first, the curse was removed long before the premieres of the series of The Last of Us or the movie Super Mario Bros.because in 2009 the arkham of rocksteady they began to set a standard for what we should expect from this burgeoning genre.
His vision of Batman was influenced in part by Christopher Nolan (transmedia feedback is a constant in these adaptations), and elements such as addictive combat or careful scripts remained the minimum requirements for a good superhero game. arkham was in fact the great influence (along with the legendary spider-man 2 who adapted the film from sam raimi) for Marvel’s Spider-Manpublished by Insomniac Games in 2018.
Not that, since then, everything has gone smoothly. Kill the Justice League (the game of The Suicide Squad) is scheduled for this year and it doesn’t look too good, and going back to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy this had to try to dilute in 2021 the bad taste in the mouth left by a previous game of Square Enix. Marvel’s Avengers was a universally hated game during 2020, unable to retain the magic of the movies of Joss Whedon and the Russos and disturbing his own by the characterizations of his characters.
These were based on the faces of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and company, but not quite. They wanted to be recognizable to the public without having the motion capture direct from these actors, so it gave a very unpleasant feeling, an unsettling valley that was barely saved by the agile presence of kamala khan as ms marvel, debuting before the general public something before breaking into the MCU with a certain discreet Disney + series. Be that as it may, the policy of referring to the cinema remained in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Eidos Montreal he strove to make the game very reminiscent of Gunn’s films. For this, he not only resorted to figures very similar to the Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax that they played in the MCU Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldana and dave bautista; He also invested a lot of effort in the script. In making it not only complex and emotional, but also tremendously funny at the expense of the constant dialogues and discussions of the galactic family.
The player controlled Star-Lord, which involved both using his flight and laser guns as well as issuing commands to team members. While Marvel’s Avengers he cared that you could play with each superhero and enjoy their superpowers, Guardians of the Galaxy he stuck to Pratt’s character to introduce you to strategic and emotional dilemmas: you had to plan the fights while also worrying about keeping morale high, constantly making decisions and preparing motivational speeches.
Finally, there was an emphasis on dialogue and crew that went with Gunn’s films. The script, talkative and hilarious, made him win in the Game Awards the award to best narrative (was also nominated for Best music either best adventure game), while the soundtrack fully rounded off its nature of spin-off from the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy. Such is so, that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy could go through a volume 3 alternative to the one we have in theaters.
2 Volumes 3
The exchange of references between cinema, videogames and comics has led to a very curious situation in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3. And it is that, coming from the same creative influence that previously gave rise to an ingenious disciple, it is possible that watching Gunn’s latest film after having played the Eidos Montréal game you will be assaulted by deja vu. There are things you’ve seen, and heard, before.
One of the songs on the soundtrack that Gunn has put together for the volume 3 is Since You Been Goneof Rainbow. It has sounded in the trailers and has a special presence in the film, but it is not the first time that it accompanies the Guardians: the song also sounded in the video game. Along with other songs like Holding Out for a Hero of Bonnie Tyler either Never Gonna Give You Up of rick astleywhich Gunn might not have minded adding to the list as well. soundtrack of the film.
Then there is the story itself. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy tells how Peter Quill and his companions face a sect that leads the great unifier (pay attention to the resemblance of the name with the High Evolutionary who interprets Chukwudi Iwuji). This diabolical cult has a painfully close relationship with Quill, as he has manipulated and kidnapped what he believes to be his daughter, Nikki Gold. Peter believes that he has sired her along with ko rela Nova officer with whom he had an affair.
This implies on the other hand that with Gamora there is no romantic tension (everything is reserved for her reunion with Ko-Rel); Gamora is one more member of the Guardians, with a camaraderie relationship with Quill, and here’s another connection: after his death and his return by the work and grace of the Infinity Stones, Saldaña’s Gamora that we see in he volume 3 he has no interest in Star-Lord either.
The Guardians adventure takes place shortly after a great intergalactic war that has ended with the death of Thanos: a reflection of the context of the volume 3 (after the Infinity War that also killed the Mad Titan). But above all the parallels are perceived in the characters. Mantis has a token presence (appearing to help Drax overcome the Great Uniter’s brainwashing), while Cosmo the Space Dog and Adam Warlockkey presences in the volume 3They are of great importance here.
Cosmo and Adam Warlock appeared in the audiovisual two years before Guardians of the Galaxy 3. In the case of the Soviet dog (much more serious, and perhaps for that reason more hilarious, than what we see in the film with the voice of Maria Bakalova), we find him as ruler of Sapientialthe same planet-headquarters that was presented in the special happy holidays and that here it is noticeably different: more marked by the casinos, the neon lights and the cyberpunk.
And Warlock… Warlock is certainly much more relevant to the plot than he is in reality. guardians 3. Its solemn and naive character is also a reason for ridicule, but it also has a more solid link with the plot center. While in the volume 3 He is barely a henchman torn between his loyalties, here he has to deal with being his dark alter ego, maguswho is secretly behind the cult of the Great Uniter and wants to possess Nikki.
Warlock fights with the Guardians in the final battle, with considerable prominence. Will Poulter has not been able to benefit from that in volume 3 (possibly because his appearance is due more to Marvel impositions than Gunn’s own intention), but maybe he can do it in a future movie. As to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyit is not unreasonable that it gives birth at some point to a sequel, and it will necessarily be something that we live with joy.
The Guardians may have finished their journey in the movies (at least the Guardians we know of), but within video games they have plenty of adventures ahead of them.
Do you want to be up-to-date with all the new movies and series? Sign up for our newsletter.
