Guardians of the Galaxy (2008 team) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Guardians of the Galaxy
Promotional image for Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #1 (May 2008) Art by Clint Langley depicting Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell.
Group publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Annihilation: Conquest #6 (April 2008)
Created by	Dan Abnett Andy Lanning
In-story information
Type of organization	Superhero team
Base(s)	Knowhere
Leader(s)	Star-Lord
Agent(s)	Groot Phyla-Vell Moondragon Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr) Nova (Richard Rider)
Roster
See: List of Guardians of the Galaxy members
Guardians of the Galaxy
Series publication information
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	(Volume 2) July 2008 – June 2010 (Volume 3) May 2013 – July 2015 (Volume 4) December 2015 – June 2017 (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy) July – December 2017 (Volume 1 resumed) January – March 2018 (Volume 5) March 2019 – February 2020 (Volume 6) March 2020 – November 2021
Number of issues	(Volume 2) 25 (Volume 3) 28 (Volume 4) 20 (All-New Guardians of the Galaxy) 12 (Volume 1 resumed) 5 (Volume 5) 12 (Volume 6) 18
Creator(s)	Dan Abnett Andy Lanning

The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning formed the team from existing and previously unrelated characters created by a variety of writers and artists, with an initial roster of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Phyla-Vell, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, and Adam Warlock.

These Guardians first appeared in Annihilation: Conquest #6 (April 2008). A feature film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe based on this team was released in 2014. A sequel, titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was released in 2017, and the team has also been featured in the crossover films Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Thor: Love and Thunder, the Disney+ The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (both 2022) and the upcoming film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). This Guardians team is the second to operate under the name, following the original team created by Arnold Drake, Roy Thomas and Stan Lee in 1969.

In other media

Television

• The Guardians of the Galaxy are mentioned by the Dark Surfer in the episode "When Strikes the Surfer" of the animated series The Super Hero Squad Show.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the episode "Michael Korvac" of the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes. In this adaptation, the team consists of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Quasar, and Adam Warlock. They arrived on Earth where they pursued Korvac. They battle the Avengers, who think Korvac is a pursued victim, and later team up with them to defeat Korvac.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode "Guardians of the Galaxy". The team consists of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Groot, and Drax the Destroyer. The Guardians of the Galaxy were responsible for training Nova. Rocket Raccoon calls upon Nova and Spider-Man to help the Guardians of the Galaxy fight the Chitauri led by Korvac. In "The Return of the Guardians of the Galaxy", the Guardians land on Earth to repair their ship at the time when Titus was leading the Chitauri into claiming Nova's helmet. After the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship is repaired, they helped Nova and Spider-Man fight Titus and the Chitauri. After Titus was defeated even when S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives, the Guardians of the Galaxy leaves with Titus in their custody while the remaining Chitauri escapes.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the Avengers Assemble episode "Guardians and Space Knights". Their first designs were based on their appearance in Ultimate Spider-Man, and were voiced by the same actors. Their later appearance changed their design and voice actors to reflect their subsequent animated series, which reflected the characters' designs in the feature films.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode "It's a Wonderful Smash". In their self-titled episode, the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. run into the Guardians of the Galaxy when they come across a plot by Super-Skrull to create gamma-powered Skrulls on an unnamed planet. In the episode "Planet Monster" Part 2, the Guardians of the Galaxy are among the superheroes that help the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. and the Avengers fight the forces of the Supreme Intelligence.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in their own self-titled episode of Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers.
• A Guardians of the Galaxy animated series closely modeled after feature film was released in September 2015.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appeared in Marvel's Spider-Man in a two-part crossover.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in their own Lego short Lego Marvel Super Heroes – Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is an original special released on Disney+, and is about a Christmas celebration that the Guardians give Quill on their new headquarters of Knowhere. Cosmo the Spacedog is also revealed to be a new member of the team.

Film

• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with the characters portrayed in a more comedic manner. The group's founding members are Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot. They first appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy and return in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, both directed by James Gunn. In the latter movie, the team's membership expanded with the addition of Mantis while temporary aided by Yondu Udonta and Nebula in their fight against Ego the Living Planet. Sean Gunn's character Kraglin also assists the team in the final confrontation.
• The team appears in Avengers: Infinity War, in which they meet Thor and split up from each other, with Rocket and Groot going with Thor to Wakanda on Earth to help the Avengers, while the others confront Thanos on Titan. They try to stop him in his attempt to collect all of the Infinity Stones in order to use the Infinity Gauntlet to kill half of all the living beings in the universe. Thanos succeeds in collecting all of Stones, murdering Gamora in the process, and when he disintegrates half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers (an act known as the Infinity Snap), Star-Lord, Drax, Mantis, and Groot are among his victims, with only Rocket and Nebula spared.
• In Avengers: Endgame, after Thanos has destroyed the Stones and is executed by Thor, Rocket and Nebula become members of the Avengers and travel through the Quantum Realm to retrieve the Infinity Stones from alternate timelines, in order to reverse the Infinity Snap. They are successful, but an alternate Thanos becomes aware of the presence of this other Nebula, and has her captured, sending Nebula’s alternate counterpart to the present in the former's place. The Avengers are successful in reversing the Infinity Snap, bringing Thanos' victims back to life, including the Guardians, but 2014 Nebula summons Thanos to the present, where he destroys the Avengers headquarters and summons his army in order to acquire the Stones to kill the entire universe. Nebula successfully convinces 2014 Gamora to join her in opposing Thanos, and kills her counterpart, though 2014 Gamora has no emotional connection to Quill. The combined forces of the Avengers, the Guardians, the Ravagers, and the rest of the Avengers' allies succeed in repelling his forces, and killing Thanos once and for all. Afterwards, Thor joins the Guardians, quipping that they are now the "Asgardians of the Galaxy", and jokingly argues with Star-Lord over command of the team.
• The team makes an appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, with the Guardians helping Thor on several adventures. After the group saves a planet whose gods have been killed by Gorr, Thor and Korg split off from the Guardians to take down the God Butcher. Before departing, Star-Lord gives Thor the advice that he should be allowed to feel the pain of losing those he loves as opposed to feeling nothing at all and keeping everyone at arm's length.
• A third film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is currently in post-production and set to release in 2023.

Video games

• Rocket Raccoon appears in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as a playable character.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in the MMORPG, Marvel Heroes.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes. The team consists of Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and Star-Lord. The game's Guardians of the Galaxy achievement also considers Ronan the Accuser and Nova as members of the team.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appeared in Marvel: Avengers Alliance.
• Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, Yondu, and Ronan appear as playable characters in Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes.
• Rocket Raccoon and Gamora appear as playable characters in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Groot appears as part of Rocket's moveset.
• Many Guardians-related characters are featured in the mobile game Marvel: Contest of Champions by Kabam as playable characters, including Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, Ronan, Groot, Angela, Yondu, and Nebula
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear as the main protagonists in Guardians of the Galaxy: The Telltale Series.
• Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, Groot (as a child and adult), Mantis, Yondu and Nebula appear in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
• Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Groot appear in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, where they are also the starting characters to pick in the game’s storyline, while Groot and Rocket are a two-in-one playable characters.
• The Guardians of the Galaxy appear as the main protagonists of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, a single-player game focusing on Star-Lord as the main playable character. The team also consists of Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Groot.

Toys

• A Guardians of the Galaxy three pack for the Marvel Universe 3 3/4" toyline includes a Rocket Raccoon, Star-Lord, Drax, and a miniature Groot. The three were rereleased individually as part of the Avengers Infinite toyline.
• A Drax figure and a Rocket Raccoon Build-A-Figure have been released in their Guardian uniforms as part of the Marvel Legends line.
• Film versions of the team were released as part of the Marvel Minimates toyline in late 2014.
• Hot Toys released the film versions of Guardians of the Galaxy 12" figures (30 cm) starting in January 2015 with Peter Quill aka Star-Lord. Rocket Racoon, Groot, Gamora, and Drax were subsequently released in 2015.

Theme parks

• An attraction titled Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!, opened at Disney California Adventure Park on May 27, 2017. It is a re-branding of the former The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction, utilizing the existing structure and ride system.
• In 2017 it was announced that Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind would replace the Universe of Energy at Disney World's Epcot. The attraction is a "storytelling roller coaster" with cars modeled after the Milano starship from the feature films, which spin in order to direct passengers to different parts of a narrative, and opened in time for Disney World's 50th anniversary celebration in October 2021.

Live performance

The Guardians of the Galaxy appears in Marvel Universe LIVE! stage show.

See also

In Spanish: Guardianes de la Galaxia (equipo de 2008) para niños