With the exponential success of the “Phase 1” or “Thank god people like our comic book movies and we’re no longer bankrupt and now we have Disney money to throw around” of the Marvel Comics movie plan, the next group of sequels and new titles starting with Iron Man 3 will kick off “Phase 2” and eventually lead towards Avengers 2 which should be the biggest movie in the entire known universe. It will be bigger than Space Jam…quote me on that. While Marvel’s plans aren’t exactly known it’s said that “Phase 2” will be more cosmic…and I don’t mean in a hippy stoner kind of way. Thor 2 or Thor: The Dark World to us comic geeks obviously has a cosmic feel to it since it takes place in Asgardian space and obviously Guardians of the Galaxy will take place out there somewhere in the galaxy possibly leading towards an Avengers 2 battle with the Mad Titan Thanos…who was born on Saturn’s moon Titan. Cosmic enough for ya?

Out of all of the movies staged for “Phase 2”, those being Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Avengers 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy…the one that sticks out like a sore thumb and has caused quite a few shoulders to shrug and heads to shake would have to be Guardians of the Galaxy. For those unfamiliar with any incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy, this helpful ten step guide with help prepare you for one of the weirdest, coolest, most unique comic book movies ever released since Howard the Duck or Ghost World.

1) Guardians of the Galaxy=Space Avengers- To sum it up in the simplest of terms, that is exactly what the Guardians are. While the Avengers are Earth’s mightiest heroes, the Guardians of the Galaxy are outer space’s or in this particular movie the Milky Way Galaxy’s mightiest heroes. They even have their own green guy! Can you deal with space Avengers? CAN YOU!!!??? You can.

2) Rocket Raccoon- If there is only one reason and one reason alone that you must see this movie; it has to be because of Rocket Raccoon. What is a Rocket Raccoon you ask? To quote his Wikipedia page, he is “an intelligent, anthropomorphic raccoon who is an expert marksman and master tactician”. What Wikipedia doesn’t tell you is that he is a badass mofo with a somewhat Russian accent with an affinity for heavy weapons and enjoys kicking butt on his rocket skates. He also hangs out with a talking walrus named Wal Russ. As you can see, what isn’t there to like about Rocket Raccoon? He also doesn’t wear pants. Cool huh?

3) Groot- Groot is another example of the quirky weirdness that surrounds GotG. Groot is and extraterrestrial humanoid space tree with a high level of intelligence and a weakness to termites. He’s actually been around the Marvel universe since the 60’s, but never really found his rightful place in the Marvel U until he was assigned membership in one of the more recent incarnations of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel thinks that they can make an expansive tree-man that hangs around a talking raccoon with big guns and no pants work so who am I to judge? Personally, I think that it’s going to be amazing and once you see it on screen you will too. After watching the Hulk movie from the 80’s with Thor in it, who would have ever thought a standalone Thor movie would work?

4) Thanos as the main villain- At this point, anything in regards to the plot of Guardians of the Galaxy is nothing more than speculation, we’re going to rely strictly on internet rumors for this one and hope that the internet and Al Gore are correct for once. It’s rumored that Thanos will most likely be the main baddy in Guardians and possibly spill over into Avengers 2 with him possibly having the most powerful weapon in the universe…the Infinity Gauntlet. While it may seem like a waste to throw him into the Guardians movie instead of building on the end credits of Avengers, he has more ties to the Guardians than to anyone on the Avengers team. Drax the Destroyer was created for the sole purpose of killing Thanos. Not just to beat him to a bloody pulp or to bring him to justice. No. Just to kill him. Plain and simple. Why is Thanos such a big deal? Ask just about any Marvelite what one of the best Marvel mini-series of all time was and they’ll surely mention the Infinity Gauntlet series. Why is this? It’s basically because it portrays Thanos as one of the most bad ass comic villains ever. He pretty much destroyed the universe in the first issue and killed almost every Marvel hero without a second thought. Marvel fans have been clamoring for the Infinity Gauntlet saga to be made into a movie since before Blade made a comment about ice skating uphill. BTW, the Infinity Gauntlet made a brief cameo in the Thor movie so it technically exists in the Marvel movie universe.

5) James Gunn- Most of you have probably never heard of James Gunn, but you have probably heard of or at least seen one of his movies or projects. He was the mastermind behind such major blockbuster hits as Scooby Doo and Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed. If that’s not amazing enough for you, he was also the man behind the deep and involving story of the video game “Lollipop Chainsaw”. Emotional and moving stuff right there. And they say video games aren’t art. Pshaaaw. Alright…so I lied about the stuff I mentioned above. Let’s talk about the things that most likely landed him the job on Guardians of the Galaxy. For those in the know, he directed one of the weirdest, funniest, and most underrated superhero movies out there called “The Specials”…no not the ska band…I know what you’re thinking Bryan. “The Specials” had a budget of about $34 but also starred Rob Lowe, Thomas Hayden Church, Judy Greer and Jamie Kennedy…and himself! It’s always been up there on my top ten superhero movie lists that I never make. “The Specials” is a good start towards understanding why James Gunn landed the Guardians of the Galaxy gig, but it isn’t the numero uno reason and a big reason why I give Marvel all kinds of props for choosing him. The big reason why I think that this is going to work and why Guardians of the Galaxy is going to be fairly successful is because James Gunn is a Troma alum. What does that mean? That means that nothing…absolutely nothing is too weird for him. He made a critically acclaimed Toxic Avenger movie. He’ll have no problems with a giant alien tree fighting alongside a talking raccoon against an immortal purple mutant that was born on a moon. This is going to work and everyone is going to realize that even the weirdest of the weird in the Marvel U can be made into a movie and make some Disney funbucks. Next up, an Impossible Man movie! Can’t wait!