Marvel Universe (Thar be spoilers ahead.)

[Soulflame]

I think that's Rocket Raccoon, which I'm only aware of because he's in Marvel Heroes.  If I had to guess, green Na'vi girl is a martian.  Or is that DC?

The rest?  Not a fucking clue.

[sickrubik]

From Left to Right: Gamora, Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer and Groot.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardians_of_the_Galaxy_(2008_team)

[Tannhauser]

Pretty sure that's Burt Macklin not Star Lord. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

Pretty sure that's Burt Macklin not Star Lord. 

You have no idea how much I wish that were the case.

[Soulflame]

That looks nothing like a giant flying turtle.

[Raguel]

Has anyone ever explained why second and third tier (ok, 4th tier) characters played such a big role from Annihilation to Thanos Imperative? I'm assuming it was deliberate (primarily to keep the story separate from the other books, and also to try to drum up interest in the less popular/known characters). I wish DnA were still doing Nova and GotG.

I also wonder what is the rationale behind the GotG calling themselves such, without the cosmic events happening and no Adam Warlock and Quasar.

[sickrubik]

GoG has been around since the late 60s, as I recall. *shrug*

Not really weird that someone with "galaxy" in their name to be involved with matters intergalactic (planetary).

[Tannhauser]

Intergalactic, planetary, planetary, intergalactic.

[sickrubik]

I can not type or say the word "intergalactic" without going straight into that.

[Raguel]

GoG has been around since the late 60s, as I recall. *shrug*

Not really weird that someone with "galaxy" in their name to be involved with matters intergalactic (planetary).

Well sure but that doesn't really answer the question. The original team fought the Badoon. DnA's version literally tried to repair the universe, stop a war between two Galactic empires and defeat an alien invasion from another universe. From what I gather of the CU version, one of them stole something they shouldn't have, and now they are on the run.

[Khaldun]

I'm not sure what the question is.

If you're talking about the Abnett/Lanning Guardians, I think it was just how they went about anchoring a "cosmic" story, by finding the "regular joe" characters who had relatable motivations and letting Galactus, his heralds, Annihilus, Thanos, etc. be more the stage on which the regular joes acted. In Annihilation they did a pretty bang-up job of taking characters who'd been around forever but who had always been sort of one-note folks and giving them personalties and motivations: Ronan, Super-Skrull, Drax, Moondragon, etc.  They finally took the next step with the Richard Rider Nova as well, making him grow up and go beyond being the Peter Parker-ish teenager he'd started as.

So when they got the nod to have GoG spin off out of Annihilation, I assume they just resolved to keep doing that--take 'cosmic' or 'space' characters and make them more interesting. Plus follow the standard 'team' book logic of putting characters together who would rub up against each other in all sorts of ways and have very different powers and skills. Dirty Dozen in space was the basic idea from the get-go. If you read the stupid team-up book that pretty much ended that entire era where they put all the cosmic big guns (Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Silver Surfer, etc.) together, you saw how boring it gets to have a bunch of dudes who can throw moons at each other hanging out together.

[Raguel]

It's not a big deal or anything but the question is basically why does this group call themselves GotG? I suppose that is something they become as the film progresses as opposed to the first 30 min or so; I just wonder how that will play out.

[Khaldun]

In the movie, who knows? In the comic, it's taken semi-ironically at first, and they continue to meet cosmic players who are like, "Um, who are you guys?" but they also do operate on a pretty grand scale, if sometimes by accident. My guess is they'll play it the same way--ironically but they live up to the title when it's all done.

[sickrubik]

It's not a big deal or anything but the question is basically why does this group call themselves GotG? I suppose that is something they become as the film progresses as opposed to the first 30 min or so; I just wonder how that will play out.

It's entirely possibly you are massively over thinking it.

[Velorath]

It's not a big deal or anything but the question is basically why does this group call themselves GotG? I suppose that is something they become as the film progresses as opposed to the first 30 min or so; I just wonder how that will play out.

It's entirely possibly you are massively over thinking it.

It's also possible that they'll never actually call themselves that in the movie.

[Ironwood]

Dunno about that.  They even managed to shoe-horn in 'Earths Mightiest Heroes' into the Avengers movie.

[Khaldun]

I thought the clip at Comic-Con already has John C. Reilly as a Nova Corps cop saying, "These assholes call themselves Guardians of the Galaxy, that should tell you everything you need to know" or something to that effect, if I remember what was reported about it.

[Raguel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n5dkzMzrPI

~20 sec mark

eta: I just realized that that the symbols on the unis of those two guys look like Nova Corps. I know John C. Reilly was supposed to play Rhomann Dey but some site said Dey would be a SHIELD agent.

[UnSub]

As for Spider-man (FYI - Spider-man has a dash in the name... Stan Lee didn't want his name to look too similar to Superman)

Spider-Man also has a capital 'm' in his name. FYI.

Civil War as a storyline requires a lot of superpowered characters, which the Marvel Studios film don't have established in the universe (as indicated in "Agents of SHIELD"). It was also a story that starts off with heroes blowing up a school, and the Marvel films (again) lack the minor characters to put into that situation.

It could be worked around, but it would lack even the minor impact of the comic book series.

[sickrubik]

I think this might be the third time in this thread someone corrected us on Spiderman.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I prefer the Jewish Spiderman.

[Sir T]

Yes, the issue of Spiderman is very Spiderman vital to the Spiderman fabric of the Spiderman universe

[eldaec]

The main reason civil war is not going to be top of any exec's list for filming is that it is a bad and widely disliked story. There is plenty of better shit to use.

[sickrubik]

Yes, the issue of Spiderman is very Spiderman vital to the Spiderman fabric of the Spiderman universe

there's a certain... spidermanesque sensibility when it comes to spiderman comics that really can't be properly captured with the Spiderman cinematic endevour.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Why isn't anyone talking about manspider in all of this? Or is it Man-Spider?

[jgsugden]

The main reason civil war is not going to be top of any exec's list for filming is that it is a bad and widely disliked story. There is plenty of better shit to use.

Again, it isn't the quality of the story that matters.  They're use it for rough inspiration, but they'll massively rewrite it. 

What matters is whether the name has soom roots that the media (and to an extent, the general populace) can grab onto and use in their discussion.  It is the reason why they used 'Age of Ultron' as the title of the next Avengers movie, despite the storyline having more to do with things that went down in the first few years of the Avengers rather than 2013 (when the comics AoU took place).  I imagine that if they made Civil War now, it would focus on a battle between Cap and Iron Man (like the story from the comics) in which they battle over whether the emerging super heroes of the world have to register (unlike the comics, in which the heroes were not emerging).

[HaemishM]

They won't use the story for Civil War anymore than they would for Age of Ultron for the same reason. Both stories were utter shit. And Age of Ultron has even less media presence than Civil War, that is if it was possible to have less than zero.

[sickrubik]

I imagine that if they made Civil War now, it would focus on a battle between Cap and Iron Man (like the story from the comics) in which they battle over whether the emerging super heroes of the world have to register (unlike the comics, in which the heroes were not emerging).

There's some precedence for that in the movie/tv continuity, especially in SHIELD.

[UnSub]

I think this might be the third time in this thread someone corrected us on Spiderman.

I would of stopped doing it, but people keep getting it wrong. 

[jgsugden]

I think this might be the third time in this thread someone corrected us on Spiderman.

I would of stopped doing it, but people keep getting it wrong. 

I think we're all set on aRACHNOmALE now.

[Soulflame]

Wouldn't Arachno-Cis-White-Male-Oppressor be more accurate?

[Lakov_Sanite]

Don't tell me the web shooters aren't just a phallic metaphor.

[tazelbain]

He's homophobic too because we all know real web shooters would be in Spider-Bro ass.

[UnSub]

Don't tell me the web shooters aren't just a phallic metaphor.

And bonus, because Google Images really delivered this time:

He's homophobic too because we all know real web shooters would be in Spider-Bro ass.

[Evildrider]

Michael Douglas is Hank Pym.  Discuss.