25:00-30:00
Walking through the prison, Quill is confronted by a big blue guy. He’s a CGI creation voiced by Nathan Fillion. He has worked with Gunn many times, as well as starting in many films by James Gunn, he probably best known for TV work on Firefly and Castle.
There was an alternate introduction to this big prison yard.
And watching as Gamora enters her cell is Drax. He’s played by Dave Bautista.
Drax is another major player in the cosmic Marvel universe. He was initially a human named Arthur Douglas, who was turned into a powerful creature to destroy Thanos. Here, and in the comics, the killing of his family is his motivation. Over the years he played roles in various Infinity Gem stories. He was significantly powered down for the film, although he remains hilariously dim witted at times. He also keeps his name The Destroyer.
He first appeared in Iron Man #55 (February 1973). He was created by Jim Starlin and Mike Friedrich.
Bautista is a professional wrestler. Guardians was one of his first film credits, which he would follow up with Spectre and more.
As Gamora is attacked, Drax talks about his family – his wife Hovat and his daughter Kamaria. The film, leaving behind Drax’s human origin, has created new names for his family.
The main thug with Drax is named Moloka Dar. He’s played by Alexis Rodney. Rodney has appeared in films like Wild Target and Kick Ass 2.
Dar is a very minor character from the comics, appearing briefly in a Thanos storyline in Thanos’ own series in 2004. He was also a minor crook at the Kyln.
30:00-35:00
Quill goes through his scars. He mentions Rajack, a planet from the comics.
He also mentions the A’askvarii, an alien race from the comics who indeed have tentacle arms with suctions.
Gamora, Quill, Rocket and Groot make plans to escape.
Back with Ronan, the creature called The Other tells him he’s been betrayed. He’s voiced by Alexis Denisof.
This is Denisof’s 2nd time voicing this role. He last appeared in The Avengers (2012).
Then off to Sanctuary, the domain of Thanos. In the comics, Thanos has a ship called Sanctuary. In the films, it seems it is now a place.
After an argument, Ronan kills The Other.
Thanos revealed. He’s played by Josh Brolin.
He is the mad Titan, and one of the very big bads in the Marvel universe. It remains to be seen how Marvel plays him in the films, but in the comics he really came to prominence in the Infinity Gauntlet comics series. He is obsessed with death and killing off half the universe. He’s strong, he’s smart, and wait til he gets his hands on a few gems.
Brolin came to huge fame with his role in No Country For Old Men, with many more acclaimed credits to follow. He is actually uncredited in this film.
Plenty of people have made fun of Thanos’ throne. He actually has a ship that looks a lot like it in the comics.
Nebula and Ronan head off.
35:00-40:00
Back at the Kyln, Rocket and gang begin to improvise.
The guard in the tower. He’s played by Enzo Cilenti. He’s appeared in films like The Martian, Theory Of Everything and much more.
The fight begins. Then Drax joins in.
Quill talks to the one legged prisoner. He’s played by Richard Katz.
Gamora fights the guards. The whose arm she breaks is played by Enoch Frost.
Quill faces his own guard, played by Ronan Summers.
40:00-45:00
The gang make their daring escape.
Something’s missing in Quill’s case. He goes to look for it.
On the Milano, Gamora realises she doesn’t have the orb.
Music becomes Escape, more popularly known as The Piña Colada Song, by Rupert Holmes. It’s from his 1979 album Partners In Crime. Another number 1 US single. It only got up to 23 in the UK.
Quill gets his walkman back.
45:00-50:00
He gets back on the Milano and sets off. They discuss the orb a bit.
The Jackson Pollack line. It was improvised by Pratt. It’s reference to Quill’s masturbation leaving stains like Jackson Pollack’s painting style.
Ronan and Nebula kill a couple of Nova Corps to get information.
Yondu and Kraglin pay a visit to the Broker. Yondu’s arrow works on whistling. This is new and not from the comics.
Then we see a museum. Working there is Carina, played by Ophelia Lovibond.
Carina has been changed significantly from the comics, where she was the daughter of The Collector. Here, she is a pink skinned Krylorian. We saw another member of her race earlier with Quill.
This is Lovibond’s 2nd appearance in the MCU, having last appeared in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
She is standing in front of a captured Dark Elf. Traditionally enemies of Thor in the comics, we last saw this race in the MCU in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
Back on the Milano, we hear Moonage Daydream by David Bowie. It’s the first single taken from The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). It was never released as a single.
They arrive at Knowhere. It was later introduced in the comics. What is from the comics is the Celestials, an ancient race of powerful giants.
Quill mentions several other Earth outlaws. Billy the Kid, an old west outlaw. Bonnie And Clyde, a romantic couple and bank robbers. John Stamos is best known for his role in Full House, where he played the most rebellious of the three father figures.
50:00-55:00
Drax, Groot and Rocket goes to watch some alien pets fight.
Peter and Gamora share their moment together.
Gamora talks about her origin. It is significantly different from the comics.
Peter talks about Footloose, the seminal 1984 dance film. He also mentions the star Kevin Bacon.
The music that has been playing is Fooled Around And Fell In Love by Elvin Bishop. It first appeared on his 1975 album Struttin’ My Stuff. It peaked at #3 in the US charts.
Drax, Groot and Rocket get into a fight.
A deleted scene has Drax explaining his tattoos.
55:00-60:00
Carina appears, to summon the team.
And back at this museum. Let’s breakdown what we see.
The dog is Cosmo the Spacedog. He’s a telepathic Soviet dog, part of the 60s space program. He would join the Guardians and be the security chief of Knowhere.
He first appeared in Nova vol.4 #8 (Jan 2008) and was created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.
Across from Cosmo is a Chitauri. A race that exists in the comics, we last saw one of them in The Avengers (2012).
Then The Collector, played by Benicio Del Toro.
The Collector is one of the mainstays of the Marvel universe. He is one of the oldest beings in the universe, tasked with collecting one of each specie. He has faced off against The Avengers many times, and has tried to add several of them to his collection. He is extremely powerful, and we are yet to see that power in the MCU.
He was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck. He first appeared in Avengers #28 (May 1966).
Del Toro first broke through in The Usual Suspects (1995), following it with acclaimed performances in indie films like Basquiat (1996), Traffic (2000) and more.
The camera swings around as Carina is about to introduce her boss. It swings pass the giant cocoon. We saw it much better in Thor: The Dark World (2013). Many speculated this was a reference to Adam Warlock, the hero of the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. He has often been rumoured to join the MCU, but the events of Guardians Of the Galaxy Volume 2 debunked this. Gunn later said it was an early pod of the Sovereign race, but it’s a retcon.
As the boss turns around, to the right of the screen is a box holding someone in a red cape. Fans speculate this could be Beta Ray Bill. He is an alien (a Korbinite) that was also worthy of wielding Thor‘s hammer and actually took over for a while. We are only going off the cape so who knows.
We pan out and we see the Dark Elf again looking down at the Collector.
They present the Orb to The Collector.
Drax, drunk, attacks a comms officer. He is played by Stephen Blackehart.
The Collector explains the origins of the Infinity Stone. Like in the comics, it’s just space babble and they just kind of…are. They were used by Elders, and Thanos managed to defeat each one to get them. That story was told in the comic Thanos Quest, first published in September 1990.
As he explains, we see briefly see Groot looking at the screens. He sees the Tesseract, which played such a big part of the MCU’s Phase 1 – confirming it is an Infinity Stone. We last saw it in The Avengers (2012).
Left of the Tesseract screen in the Aether. It is the reality Infinity Stone. We last saw it in Thor The Dark World (2013).
The Collector shows the Guardians a Celestial. This is a great fan moment. Celestials are elders of the universe, of towering height and towering power. Usually mysterious, when they come out of the corner it’s usually really bad news for our comic heroes. They are so weird that it is a genuine surprise to see them in the MCU films. Remember that Knowhere is the dead skull of a Celestial.
That wonderful design is very faithful to Jack Kirby‘s original design. They were created by Kirby and first appeared in Eternals #1 (July 1976).
We see that Celestial kill a bunch of folks. Purple energy suggests it is with the Power Gem.
Carina grabs the gem, and is killed. She takes out The Collector‘s museum and presumably kills many of the captured creatures too.