It’s a foregone conclusion that Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie will open at number 1 this weekend. The movie is tracking well and it’s been critically acclaimed. The only real question is how big will its first weekend at the box office be?
Marvel and Disney clearly think that they have a new franchise on their hands. That’s why the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy was announced at Comic-Con. But that’s far from the end of their ambitions.
During the annual Marvel Animation panel at Comic-Con (via IGN), Marvel announced that “Guardians of the Galaxy” will be getting an animated series and a preview clip from the show was screened for the crowd.
No other details of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” animated series were released, but it is likely to be shown on Disney XD and the preview image suggests that it will follow the example of the “Avengers Assemble” animated series and loosely follow the adventures of the characters after the first movie. In fact, I consider that image a potential spoiler for the Guardians movie, so don’t look at it too closely.
This isn’t the first time that the Guardians of the Galaxy have been animated. The Guardians have guest starred in episodes of “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” “Ultimate Spider-Man” and “Avengers Assemble.” The Guardians are even slated to appear in the second season of “ Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.;” which was also mentioned at Comic-Con.
Related: Comic-Con 2014: Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Announced and Dated
Considering that the modern Guardians of the Galaxy (as created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning) have only been around for six years, it’s an impressive feat. But there is nothing coincidental about the media push for the Guardians. This was Marvel’s way of introducing the characters to a younger audience before the movie came out.
That’s also why there are Guardians of the Galaxy toys and why characters from the comic have appeared in video games like Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel: Avengers Alliance and Lego Marvel Super Heroes.
If the first Guardians of the Galaxy film is a hit, Disney and Marvel are already well positioned to capitalize on it. Arguably, they’ve already succeeded in turning C-list comic book characters into movie superstars.
