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| Official poster featuring (from left to right) Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Star Lord, Gamora, and Drax |
What do a walking tree and a talking raccoon have in common?
Nothing much, except the fact they both fight to protect the galaxy in
Marvel’s newest hit movie, Guardians of the Galaxy. When I say hit movie, I
mean it. Guardians of the Galaxy just out sold the last Superman movie, Man of
Steel (which made $291 million domestically!).
Guardians of the Galaxy is a movie adaption of the lesser
known comic of the same name. It follows the adventures of heroes Star-Lord (a
human), Gamora (a female humanoid alien), Drax (another humanoid alien), Groot
(the tree previously mentioned), and Rocket Raccoon as they fight to defeat the
evil villain, Ronan.
This movie hasn't had just box office success, Rocket toys
are the best selling Disney merch currently (even ahead of Frozen’s Elsa).
Groot
is right up there at #3 (not bad for a tree).
But why was this movie so successful? Was it the 1970s
soundtrack? The incredible action sequences? The spot on comedic timing? An extreme
lack of romantic plot/subplot? The best part is... no one really knows.
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| How do you even Trick-or-Treat in heels? |
Guardians of the Galaxy is the movie no one really asked
for. Anyone who is a little bit of a geek had at least heard of Iron Man, the
Hulk, maybe even Captain America before those movies came out. Take a quick trip back
to 2013. If someone said they liked Gamora, their statement would most likely be
followed by “Who that?”. Back to 2014 and the Gamora costumes on both the Party
City and Spirit of Halloween websites are sold out.
Maybe the reason Guardians is doing so well is the fact this
is truly Marvel’s Golden age.
In May of 2000, Marvel’s highest selling comic was Uncanny
X-men with 114,855 pre-orders. The month after Avengers came out (June 2012),
their best comic was Avengers vs. X-Men with over 190,705 copies sold. That’s a
huge increase for the previously shrinking comics business.
No matter what made Guardians of the Galaxy so popular, it will
definitely continue to be for many years to come.
