Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Star Lord, Adam Warlock, Quasar and Wraith

Guardians of the Galaxy was a cult monthly book from Marvel Comics developed by Arnold Drake (the genius who gave us the Doom Patrol) and Gene 'the Dean' Colan. A rag-tag group of aliens uniting forces against the Badoon who had enslaved almost all of the galaxy, they appeared throughout the late 1960's and occasionally later on. More recently, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning revived the entire Marvel Comics cosmic universe with a series of event stories (Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, Thanos Imperative and Annihilators). There were many spin-offs, but the most popular was probably the revamped Guardians of the Galaxy.

Consisting of another assembly of rag-tag renegades, this team was led by the reluctant hero Peter Quill (AKA Star Lord), Rocket Raccoon, Groot!, Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Vance Astro (the only member of the original Guardians to appear in the series as a full-time member) and others. The line-up swelled and shrunk over the years and the comic was an amazing blend of camp comedy, action, sci-fi and fantasy (no surprise there as Abnett and Lanning had worked on Doctor Who and Legion of Superheroes in the past). The series had immense potential but is currently 'resting.'

Maybe Marvel has been planning a Guardians of the Galaxy movie for some time? Hence, the rest.

For anyone keeping track, I called this almost a full year ago, but the formal announcement is expected at the San Diego Comic Con.

But here's the word from io9

In classic Marvel continuity, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a team of superheroes from the future, where an evil race — hilariously named the Badoon — is gobbling up their worlds. Eventually, the Guardians go back in time to recruit the Avengers for help, a move that brings alien calamity in its wake. There's also a modern (and way more marketable) incarnation of the team that stars an aggregation of endearingly weird aliens like Groot the living tree and the firearm-toting Rocket Raccoon.

According to Latino Review the script by Nicole Perlman is bananas good and will lead up directly to The Avengers 2 in 2015. Latino Review has also revealed that the big announcement for a Guardians movie will occur at this year's Comic-Con, although most of Marvel's time will be spent hyping up Iron Man 3.

So this is what we have coming out from Marvel in the near future:

- Iron Man 3 is currently shooting with a release date of May 3, 2013.
- Thor 2 is the next project gearing up for a shoot and has a release date of November 8, 2013.
- Captain America 2 is planned for April 14, 2014.
- Guardians of the Galaxy (sometime in 2014) will lead directly into Avengers 2 in 2015.

So where does that leave smaller projects like Ant-Man? Edgar Wright just admitted that he shot a test reel for the movie, and reports have lead us to believe that the script is done. We're betting that Ant-Man is slipped in between Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, especially with the rumors that the Iron Man 3 post-credits ending sets up Ant-Man. As for movies starring Dr. Strange, The Inhumans, and Black Panther, they are all still in deep development, but could easily be sprinkled throughout 2014 and 2015 should writing wrap.

And yes, the Ant Man movie by Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World director Edgar Wright is back in development. This has been in the works since 2006 at least!

(click here for my Ant Man article for the skinny on that character)