70 Fun Facts About Guardians of the Galaxy

Who plays Peter Quill, alias Star-Lord, in the Guardians of the Galaxy films?

He was hired in February 2013, before most of the supporting cast was confirmed.

Which actor provides the voice of Rocket?

He was cast very late in development; on set, Sean Gunn stood in for the raccoon so the other actors had someone to talk to.

Who voices Groot in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

James Gunn himself did the motion capture for Baby Groot, and Krystian Godlewski performed the original adult version.

Which former professional wrestler plays Drax the Destroyer?

He was signed in mid-March 2013, and later said he was unsure about returning for Vol. 3 after Disney fired James Gunn.

Which actress plays Gamora, the green-skinned adopted daughter of Thanos?

In Endgame and Vol. 3 she plays a different version of the character from an alternate timeline.

Which former Doctor Who actress plays Nebula, the blue-skinned sister of Gamora?

She was originally announced simply as the film's 'lead female villain' before the name was revealed at Comic-Con.

Who plays the blue-skinned Ravager captain who raised Peter Quill?

Gunn was reluctant to kill the character off in Vol. 2 because of their friendship, but decided the story needed it.

Who plays Mantis, the empathic Guardian introduced in Vol. 2?

In the Holiday Special she finally admits to Quill that she is his half-sister.

Kurt Russell plays Ego, who is revealed in Vol. 2 to be what to Peter Quill?

Ego is a Celestial who says he impregnated countless women across the galaxy hunting for an heir with his power.

Which Hollywood action star plays Ravager leader Stakar Ogord in Vol. 2 and Vol. 3?

His old team of Ravager captains is based on the original 1969 comic-book Guardians of the Galaxy.

Who plays the High Evolutionary, the villain of Vol. 3?

He had just worked with Gunn on the DC series Peacemaker; Gunn's early idea for the villain had been Annihilus.

Which actor plays the golden Adam Warlock in Vol. 3?

He auditioned over Zoom and was fed the character's name and comic history only in pieces.

Which studio distributes the Guardians of the Galaxy films, as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Vol. 3 was the 32nd film in the MCU and premiered at Disneyland Paris.

In July 2018 Disney fired James Gunn from Vol. 3 after what resurfaced?

Fans gathered more than 300,000 petition signatures, and he was publicly rehired in March 2019.

While fired from Marvel, James Gunn made which DC film before returning to finish Vol. 3?

He also made the first season of its spin-off Peacemaker before restarting work on the Guardians.

The first Guardians of the Galaxy film was released in US cinemas in which month of 2014?

Its $94.3 million opening weekend set a new August record, beating The Bourne Ultimatum.

The first film grossed roughly how much worldwide?

That made it the third-highest-grossing film of 2014, remarkable for a property Marvel itself called obscure.

How many Academy Award nominations did the first Guardians of the Galaxy receive?

They were for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects; both sequels were nominated for Visual Effects too.

Peter Quill is abducted from Earth by the Ravagers in which year, right after his mother's death?

The rest of the first film jumps 26 years ahead to 2014.

On which abandoned planet does Quill steal the Orb at the start of the first film?

Screenwriter Nicole Perlman based the desolate opening on a memory of seeing Disneyland's Submarine Voyage drained.

What is the name of Peter Quill's ship in the first two films?

The Guardians' later ships were named the Benatar and, in Vol. 3, the Bowie, whose interior was a four-storey set.

The Nova Corps capture the future Guardians and lock them in which prison?

Nathan Fillion voices an unseen inmate there, and Lloyd Kaufman of Troma appears as another.

Xandar, the planet Ronan wants to destroy, is the capital city-world of which people?

Glenn Close plays its leader, Nova Prime Irani Rael.

Who plays Ronan the Accuser, the villain of the first film?

Nicole Perlman's early drafts had Thanos as the main villain, until Joss Whedon asked Gunn to scale him back.

What is the name of Ronan's flagship in the first film?

It crash-lands on Xandar, and Groot sacrifices himself to shield the team from the impact.

Which surprise Marvel character joins the Collector and a cosmonaut dog in the first film's post-credits scene?

He was not in the scene as filmed; Gunn and editor Fred Raskin added him in post-production, voiced by Seth Green.

Stan Lee's cameo in the first Guardians film credits him as what?

In Vol. 2 he pops up again as an informant chatting to the Watchers about his previous cameos.

Which song plays over the opening dance on Morag in the first film?

Gunn designed the scene around 'Hooked on a Feeling' until he found the Redbone track and thought it a better fit.

Whose version of 'Hooked on a Feeling' was used in the trailer, sending its sales up 700% in a day?

The Swedish band's 'ooga-chaka' intro is the version that opens Awesome Mix Vol. 1.

Awesome Mix Vol. 1 was the first Billboard 200 number one soundtrack of what kind?

It later got a limited cassette release, Disney Music Group's first tape since 2003, and is certified triple platinum.

Which song on Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is heard only in the trailer and not in the film itself?

Norman Greenbaum's 1969 hit was in the marketing, but the other eleven tracks all play in the movie.

Which Electric Light Orchestra song opens Vol. 2 as Baby Groot dances through a monster fight?

Gunn spent a full day dancing himself to give the animators reference for Baby Groot's moves.

Awesome Mix Vol. 2 ends with 'Guardians Inferno' by The Sneepers featuring which 1980s TV star?

The same actor cameos in the film when Ego takes his form; a retro music video featured the whole cast.

Which Fleetwood Mac song appears on Awesome Mix Vol. 2?

Other tracks include 'Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)' by Looking Glass, which Ego uses to explain his love life.

Vol. 3 opens with an acoustic version of which Radiohead song?

Gunn said it set a much different tone from the two earlier films; the songs now come from Quill's Zune.

Which Florence and the Machine song closes Vol. 3 and the trilogy?

Gunn had wanted to end the trilogy with it since he began writing Vol. 2.

Where was the promotional Zune tied to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 launched to?

Microsoft 3D-printed a single non-functional model for the stunt.

Vol. 2 grossed more than how much worldwide?

That was the eighth-highest total of 2017 and more than the first film made.

Which race hires Yondu to recapture the Guardians in Vol. 2 after Rocket steals their batteries?

Their golden High Priestess Ayesha later creates Adam to destroy the Guardians.

Which Ravager leads the mutiny against Yondu in Vol. 2?

Gunn described the character as someone who gave himself the name and is 'a real dumbass'.

How many mid- and post-credits scenes does Vol. 2 have?

They include Kraglin practising with Yondu's arrow, Ayesha unveiling Adam, and Groot as a moody teenager.

Which real-life star does Ego shape-shift into in Vol. 2, in a cameo as himself?

Quill grew up telling other kids the Knight Rider star was his dad.

Where in the United States was Vol. 2 filmed?

Vol. 3 shot at the same city's Trilith Studios from November 2021 to May 2022.

In Vol. 3, what is the name of the company run by the High Evolutionary?

A kill switch it embedded in Rocket is why the Guardians' med-packs cannot save him.

Rocket's childhood friends in Vol. 3 were an otter, a walrus and a rabbit; what was the otter called?

Teefs was the walrus and Floor the rabbit; all three were part of Batch 89.

The High Evolutionary's society of uplifted animals in Vol. 3 lives on a planet called what?

He bombards the entire planet himself once Quill points out it is not the perfect world he claims.

Who voices Cosmo the Spacedog in the Holiday Special and Vol. 3?

Gunn made the character female as a tribute to Laika, the Soviet dog who inspired her in the comics.

What is the name of Adam Warlock's pet, which joins the new Guardians line-up at the end of Vol. 3?

The rescued child Phyla joins too, and Rocket takes over as leader of the team.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was released on Disney+ in November of which year?

It closed out Phase Four of the MCU and Gunn said the script took him just a few hours to write.

In the Holiday Special, which actor do the Guardians kidnap from Earth as a Christmas present for Quill?

He plays a fictionalised version of himself, and his wife Kyra Sedgwick has a voice cameo.

Which real band plays the alien group Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen in the Holiday Special?

Frontman Rhett Miller reprises the alien character in Vol. 3.

The Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared in comics in Marvel Super-Heroes #18 in which year?

That original team lived in the 31st century of an alternate timeline and fought the alien Badoon.

Which blue-skinned Centaurian was in the original 1969 comic-book Guardians?

Charlie-27 came from Jupiter and Martinex was a crystalline being from Pluto.

Which writing team assembled the comic-book Guardians of Star-Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora and Drax in 2008?

Nicole Perlman picked their run as the basis of the film because it was 'the most fun'.

Rocket Raccoon's name was inspired by a 1968 song by which band?

His 1982 Hulk appearance was titled after a lyric and involved a book called Gideon's Bible.

Groot first appeared in 1960 in Tales to Astonish as what?

That monster and the modern hero were later declared separate members of the same species, Flora colossus.

Star-Lord first appeared in 1976 in which black-and-white comics magazine?

Rocket debuted in the same magazine six months later, in a back-up strip where he was called Rocky.

Which writer-artist created both Gamora and Drax the Destroyer in the 1970s, along with Thanos himself?

He also created Thanos, which is why both characters' origins revolve around the Mad Titan.

In the comics, Drax the Destroyer began life as a human named what?

His family was killed by Thanos, and he was reborn as a being designed to destroy the Titan.

Nebula was created in 1985 by Roger Stern and John Buscema in which comic?

In her debut she claimed to be Thanos's granddaughter, not his adopted daughter.

Mantis was created in 1973 by Steve Englehart, who began which cosmic saga with her debut?

Englehart carried her story through DC and Eclipse comics after leaving Marvel, then brought her back.

Knowhere, the Guardians' base, is built inside what?

In the comics the symbiote god Knull claims to have beheaded the Celestial himself with the Necrosword.

In the comics, Cosmo the Spacedog holds what job on Knowhere?

He was created as a nod to Laika and first appeared in Nova in 2008.

Adam Warlock was originally introduced in a 1967 Fantastic Four story under what name?

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created him; he later became the wielder of the Soul Gem.

The High Evolutionary made his first full comic-book appearance in 1966 in which title?

He was born Herbert Wyndham in Manchester and did his experiments on Mount Wundagore.

Who is Ego the Living Planet, created by Jack Kirby in 1966 and played in the MCU by Kurt Russell?

Kirby said the idea came from his fascination with the sheer expanse of the universe.

Who co-wrote the first Guardians of the Galaxy screenplay with James Gunn?

Perlman joined Marvel's screenwriting program in 2009 and was offered several lesser-known properties to adapt.

Which actress plays Nova Prime, leader of the Nova Corps, in the first film?

Her character Irani Rael commands the police force in which John C. Reilly's Rhomann Dey serves.

How much weight did Chris Pratt lose in six months to play Star-Lord?

He followed a strict diet and training regimen before filming began at Shepperton Studios in July 2013.

Who stood in for Rocket on set during filming, and also plays Ravager Kraglin?

James Gunn's younger brother also stood in for Thanos; Godlewski was the on-set Groot.