New images and details on Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor: The Dark World!

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's raining superhero news today, but you know the saying: When it rains, it pours. Entertainment Weekly has got quite the juicy info on the upcoming Marvel Phase Two slate, including new images and details for both THOR: THE DARK WORLD and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. For THOR: THE DARK WORLD, Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige dropped some interesting tidbits:

I would say there’s a question of what happens when you’re now seemingly ready for something, but don’t necessarily want it anymore," Feige says. “That's part of his internal struggle. Tony Stark wasn't perfect at the end of Iron Man 1, and I don't think Thor is perfect at the end of Thor 1 — particularly in his relationship with his brother, considering what he went through in Avengers.

Feige also commented on director Alan Taylor's style on the film, which looks to have gotten a lot dirtier since Kenneth Branagh delivered a solid, shiny effort with the first film:

Alan is bringing a grittier, more visceral, more textured patina to the designs of the worlds, and to Asgard in particular,” Feige says. “It’s less to chase either Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings — because you’re not going to catch up. But part of the fun of Thor over the other characters is he doesn’t have to stay on Earth. We visit a few of the other realms in this new movie.

Feige also commented on director James Gunn's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which has seen a slew of interesting casting choices (with Rocket Raccoon still in the mix), which he elaborates on, as well as why Marvel has chosen to go "to the stars."

Guardians takes place within the continuity of the [other movies] but it’s on the other side of the universe. We’ve always wanted to do a space movie. I’m obsessed with Star Wars, I’m obsessed with Star Trek. It’s a huge story on a massive canvas. We can take it to all those crazy places as long as all the characters respond in an emotionally truthful way. That’s why I believe people are going to respond to Chris Pratt and to an alien Zoë Saldana—because they did respond to that one time before [with Avatar]. And to a tree and a raccoon who, it is certainly our intention, will steal the whole movie

Feige explains the process of casting Star-Lord, which went to Chris Pratt, an unlikely, but believable and inspired choice for a superhero lead, which once again proves that the studio has the right pulse of their characters:

[Pratt is] a hilariously frumpy, doofy guy in Parks and Rec, and he’s an incredibly kickass ripped guy in Zero Dark Thirty and that’s pretty awesome. He’s going to need that in Guardians. That’s a big range right there. We did a lot of auditions, a lot of screen tests, just as we did for Thor, just as we did for Cap,” Feige says. “[Pratt] was hilarious, he was moving, he was … you bought him in the early versions of the outfit.

Feige qualified the casting of Dave Bautista along those same lines, saying:

One of the reasons Bautista got the part was because his banter, and ad libs, and screen tests with Pratt were awesome.

Pretty cool stuff, eh? I'm sure at some point we'll get a little fatigued over the comic book stuff, but right now I'm kind of enjoying them being in the limelight. It seems like I spent my childhood living a pipe dream of ever seeing really good versions of my favorite comic characters onscreen and now that it's all happening, I'm pretty stoked. Keep it comin'!

THOR: THE DARK WORLD drops the hammah on November 8, 2013 and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY gets lost in space on August 1, 2014.