Iron Man 3 has completed its world press tour yesterday evening with its London premiere and in attendance was writer and director James Gunn. Gunn is preparing to shoot Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel Studios at London’s Shepperton Studios this summer and took time to chat with the media about biggest question mark for Phase Two of Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Gunn spoke on the topic of casting and finding the right voice for Rocket Raccoon, but he also addressed the Star Wars comparisons that arose last week when new concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy surfaced thanks to the Phase Two preview video included as bonus content on the 10-disc Avengers box set.
Gunn’s response to the similarities to Disney’s other massive space-faring franchise:
“I do think we’re very, very different from Star Wars. Some of the concept art that came out is under my tutelage, and some of it is before my tutelage. The concept art that came out is only stuff that was on the big Marvel collected disc set, talking about phase two and it had some stuff from Guardians. Some of the art by Charlie Wen and the guys.”
Marvel Studios President of Production and producer Kevin Feige previous described Guardians as more of a “standalone film,” taking place in the same universe but far away from what moviegoers are used to seeing so far, although he did hint that fans may see a few familiar otherworldly faces. Whether that be the Chitauri and Thanos from The Avengers or beings we’ll meet in Thor: The Dark World, we don’t yet know. With Guardians of the Galaxy taking place “95%” in space, is it very different from the other films?
“In some ways yes, but in some ways no. In terms of a lot of stuff we’re very much like The Avengers, where it’s a very big, huge movie. It’s different because it’s cosmic, it’s in outer space, it’s very colorful We have a whole history of science fiction behind us that we’re dealing with, and borrowing from, and also fighting with to create something unique. But at the same time there’s a lot of stuff it has in common with The Avengers.”
The most notable highlight comes from Gunn talking about the casting of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord. Gunn explains that after having “80 to 100 guys,” Pratt “blew his mind” with his portrayal of Quill and totally captured the role in a way similar to how Robert Downey Jr. became Tony Stark. He said Pratt would hold his own on screen with Downey Jr., and that’s a meeting that’s bound to happen down the road.
“That just means that all our movies are connected, we’re created in a way that we’re very connected to the movies that came before us, we’re even more connected to The Avengers 2, that comes after us, and so in that respect, what we would hope is that these characters would continue, and that at some point in time they’ll all meet up with different characters throughout the galaxy.”
Will Phase Two end with The Avengers and Guardians (Cosmic Avengers) meeting up on Earth? We do know that Thanos will have some role to play in both Guardians and The Avengers 2.
Guardians of the Galaxy is being rewritten and directed by James Gunn and begins shooting in London this summer. It will be released in 3D.
Iron Man 3 releases May 3, 2013, Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers 2 on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on November 6, 2015, and Doctor Strange sometime after that.
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