In 2014, Marvel Studios brought one of the most obscure superhero teams to the silver screen, Marvel A-list.
As is common with most film adaptions, there are always bits of content that are either changed or left out completely from the source material. Here are ten pieces of Guardians of the Galaxy trivia from the comics that you may not know about.
Star-Lord’s Father Is J’Son Of Spartax
In the comics, Star-Lord's real father is a man from the planet Spartax named J'son.On his way back to his home planet to help his father fight off the invading Badoon, he crashed landed on Earth. It is here that he met Meredith Quill. In the time it took for J’son the fix his ship, the prince started a relationship with Quill. Eventually, he had to return to Spartax and left the pregnant Meredith behind.
Groot Used To Be A Giant Monster
One of the Guardians' most treasured characters is the alien tree who can only utter the phrase "I am Groot.” He has a heart of gold and would give his life for any of his friends. The movies seemed to skip the part where he tried to abduct a small town.
Groot first appeared in 1960 comic Tales to Astonish #13. This story featured a gigantic Groot who claimed to be the monarch of Planet X. He intended to uproot the local village to bring back to his people so they could experiment on the locals. The giant was defeated when the scientist, Leslie Evens, unleashed a termite colony on him. Groot has since mellowed out, shrunk a couple of stories, and limited his vocabulary.
Drax Used To Be A Human
Drax the Destroyer was for comedic effect. He lost his wife and child when Ronan the Acc came to his planet, under the orders of Thanos.
Drax’s origin is wildly different in the comics. The Destroyer was born an Earth human named Arthur Douglas. Douglas and his family were in a car when Thanos ed by on his ship. Not wanting any witnesses, he annihilated the vehicle. Wanting to stop the Mad Titan, Thanos’s parents saved Douglas’s astral form. His spirit was placed inside a super-powered body, and thus, Drax the Destroyer was born.
Iron Man Was Part Of The Team
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man has made his way around multiple movies, teaming up with nearly every other superhero. He briefly worked with the Guardians of the Galaxy in Avengers: Infinity War and worked with Rocket Raccoon specifically in Endgame
This team-up was taken a step farther in the comics as Tony Stark was made a full-fledged part of the team in 2013’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, #1. Stark was stressed out from everything happening on Earth and wanted to get away. What better way to do this the deepest parts of space?
Rocket Raccoon Was Born In A Galactic Insane Asylum
In the Guardians of the Galaxy film, the audience was only given a small taste of Rocket’s origin. In a drunken rage, he yells about how he was taken apart and put back together, over and over.
In the comics, Rocket was bred in an insane asylum called The Cuckoo’s Nest on a planet called Halfworld. The patients were all given emotional animals to help calm them. As an ordinary raccoon, Rocket was given to a patient named Khevix. Khevix was an old soldier suffering from bad dreams. He would watch old war movies while petting Rocket on his lap. One day, the robot caretakers decided to leave the facility and wanted the animals to take their place. Rocket and the other pets were experimented on by the robots, making them all smarter, stronger, and self-aware.
The Original Guardians Of The Galaxy
Many single one of these characters.
Marvel Super-Heroes #18 was published in 1969. This comic introduced the Guardians to the marvel universe. The original incarnation featured Charlie-27, a genetically engineered soldier; Martinex T'Naga, a man-made out of crystal; Vance Astro, an astronaut whose skin is covered in copper; and Yondu, who is a blue-skinned archer.
Drax Killed Thanos
In the movies, Drax’s motivation is to kill Ronan the Acc for executing his family, then kill Thanos for ordering him to do so. As fans saw in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, killing Thanos is no easy task. In the comics though, it was a job that Drax could accomplish on his own.
Drax holds a personal vendetta against Thanos for killing his family back when he was human. In the pages of Annihilation #4, Drax finally got the chance to exact his revenge. Ambushing the Titan while he was occupied, Drax plunged his fist into Thanos’s chest and ripped out his heart. Unfortunately, Thanos was in the middle of deactivating Annihilus’s doomsday weapon, which only he can shut off. Drax nearly doomed the galaxy to satisfy his need for vengeance.
They Teamed Up With A Psychic Russian Cosmonaut Dog
For a brief moment in the Guardians of the Galaxy film, in the Collector's Vault, a dog in a spacesuit can be seen. What may have seemed to be just another strange aspect of this movie, was actually a reference to an unusual character in the comic books.
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union launched a dog named Cosmo into space inside of an experimental spaceship. The canine ended up being exposed to cosmic rays, granting him psychic powers. After landing on Knowhere, he became the station's Chief of Security. Whenever the Guardians make their base on the celestial head, Cosmo is always sure to lend a paw to them.
The Nova Corps Is Made Entirely Of Super-Powered Space Cops
Making their film debut in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Corps were Xandar’s security force. Using high tech weapons and ships, they would capture criminals and deliver them to the Kyln.
In the comics, the Nova Corps are far more outreaching and far more powerful. Drawing power from the Nova Force, the soldiers have the ability to fly through space at incredible speeds, protect themselves from lethal damage, and fire blasts of energy from their hands. Using this incredible power, the Nova Corps protects the Andromeda galaxy from alien threats.
Thanos Used To Spend Christmas With Gamora
Thanos is not going to win any “Father of the Year Awards” any time soon. Under Thanos’ care, his foster daughter, Gamora, was put through brutal training to become the deadliest woman in the galaxy. On occasion, Thanos would take a break from her trials to give her some semblance of a normal childhood.
In the 1992 Marvel Holiday Special, it is revealed that Thanos would celebrate Christmas with his daughter to make her feel like she has a typical family life. When she was five, Thanos gave Gamora a baby doll as a gift. Later that day, an assassin got the drop on Thanos and fired a laser at his back. The shot missed due to Gamora hurling her doll at the assailant’s head. Thanos fried the assassin along with the doll. Years later, Thanos would find the charred toy in a pile of old boxes. Reminding him of how Gamora turned against him, Thanos told his robots to incinerate it with the rest of the garbage.
