The Guardians of the Galaxy films stamp in the fun aspect of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. These films also signaled the shift to the larger universe of the series by introducing us to the worlds and life forms in space which we hadn’t seen before the first Guardians film.
Disney did James Gunn true injustice by firing him unceremoniously for jokes on Twitter over a decade ago because the director was a visionary, without whom the Guardians would never have achieved any popularity. The characters were at the bottom of the barrel for Marvel before they were introduced in film, but Gunn did a marvelous job by making them both popular and hugely successful commercially.
These films were made in a different way compared to the rest of superhero films out there. Gunn put more focus on vibrancy and character development – both of which were conveyed through the use of comedy. The Guardians’ trademark brand is the use of humor and Gunn spared no expense in this regard. Never did the jokes feel shoehorned, and although they were rather juvenile, that was understood to be the point as these characters are a bunch of damaged individuals who use humor as a defense mechanism.
All that goofing around couldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t happening in real-life and you’ll be glad to find behind-the-scenes photos of the cast and crew having a great time during production. It’s also not easy making these alien worlds and creatures and these pictures show how difficult it is to bring that to life.
24 Star-Lord’s Double
Where was this guy when we needed him? Star-Lord famously ruined all the heroes’ efforts in Avengers: Infinity War when he attacked Thanos in a fit of rage, but according to this picture there’s supposed to be two of him!
The other one should have been restraining the original.
All kidding aside, this picture goes to show the appreciation Chris Pratt has for his stunt double who puts his health on the risk so that we can have more of Star-Lord’s popping dance moves done by Pratt without fear of him getting hurt.
23 Blue Suited Aliens
That guy in the blue sit looks like a fool in this frame but what would you say if you found out he’s supposed to be one of those intimidating aliens you saw onscreen? In this shot, you can even spot Star-Lord’s double in the background. The stuntman isn’t geared up in costume while Chris Pratt is in Star-Lord mode, accompanied by Ego, meaning Pratt opted to film this sequence braving the chances of an injury. Meanwhile, our blue suited friend will be converted into a CGI alien in post production.
22 Yondu’s Real Head
Talk about opening up a box of the Yuckies, this is how our friend Yondu would appear had he not been blue skinned like we know him to be. The top of Yondu’s head has been seen without his ever-powerful fin before, but when it was coupled with the blue nature of Yondu’s skin it didn’t revolt us to the degree the gap in the head does on Michael Rooker’s head. This is why you should be glad there are aliens out there with different color schemes.
21 Yondu’s Eye
Remember God of War III’s cover art featuring Kratos’ eye? Here we’ve got Yondu sporting a version of his own. Yondu is famous for being the Mary Poppins of the superhero genre but he might be looking into becoming the Kratos of the superheroes as well.
The blue skin completes him.
Now, despite not being in full view, the idea of Yondu is upon us with this close up of his eye. The attention to detail is such that even the eyebrows have been colored blue.
20 Rocket’s Interrogation
The scene where Rocket makes fun of Taserface for his name is one of the most famous scenes from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Its setting had to do with a weird humanoid alien interrogating a raccoon in outer space. Oddly enough, the real version of this is more unsettling.
Rocket isn’t played by Bradley Cooper, he’s motion captured by the guy who plays Kraglin. In this picture, the rehearsal for the “Your name is Taserface?” scene can be found with the true appearances of the characters clear. Not very outer space-like, right?
19 Ego Joking Around
There really couldn’t have been anyone other than Kurt Russell to play Star-Lord’s father (well, maybe David Hasselhoff, too), as the actor embodied the role. Kurt is an older version of Chris Pratt and it’s a bit of a shame this kind of technology wasn’t around in the ‘80s as Kurt slings the Star-Lord firearms just as good as Star-Lord himself.
You can’t expect any less from the guy who’s supposed to be Quill’s father but in this instance it’s Kurt Russell rather than Ego who’s doing the gun slinging.
18 Gamora’s Strength
We saw the display of Gamora’s raw strength when she held onto a part of the ship while pulling Drax back with one hand as the ship descended into a crashing position. It took Gamora only a hand each for support while remaining perfectly all right as far as physical wounds are concerned.
This was all technological wizardry.
Obviously, the actress hasn’t been gifted with super strength, but in reality there was nothing moving or being pulled at all as this picture will attest. Look at how bored the cameraman looks.
17 Chilling Out
This looks like a gathering of a bunch of freaks. Yondu, Nebula and Mantis all lounge around in chairs while production is on a break. It’s not cozy at all being in such heavy makeup and Karen Gillan relaxes with a soda in hand.
Most likely, they aren’t even allowed to bring the can to their lips to avoid ruining the makeup and so Karen has to do with sipping the drink with a straw. Meanwhile, both Yondu and Mantis have Earth technology in their hands.
16 Ayesha’s Pampering
Some characters are so over-the-top that you would be certain their makeup has been applied in CGI rather than genuinely. However, Ayesha was hundred percent genuine in her get-up as seen in this picture.
The actress must feel like a real queen.
After all, she’s still being pampered into her costume by a team of people. The perfect hourglass figure is all natural there but you can’t expect the poor girl to manage the extravagant costume all by herself, can you?
15 Star-Lord’s Blue Screen Flying
Not quite the thrilling flying you’re accustomed to because of the films, as Star-Lord’s real stunt is shown. The young man sitting on the ground seems to have a rather boring job of managing Star-Lord’s firearms with a couple of strings. From the looks of it, he’s supposed to control the guns and help them remain holstered.
Star-Lord’s flying isn’t all that cool either as he dangles with cables with nothing of the cool background of the films present.
14 Earth Technology
Is anything supposed to be real in the Guardians of the Galaxy universe? Even here with Sylvester Stallone the background is all blue as we’ve become used to because of this list. Sly’s scenes in the film had hardly any backdrop that seemed to require rendering but this picture proves that’s not the case.
These aliens are fascinated by human technology.
Another picture here has them holding onto smartphones and posing. This just makes us wonder what kind of communications devices exist in the far reaches of the galaxy.
13 Drax’s Jello
It looks as if some giant has taken a huge sneeze right onto Drax’s face in this picture. The reality isn’t all that pretty either as the actor was subjected to a lathering session where the puss was splattered onto him.
In the film, Drax was swallowed whole by the monster and then ejected with all the gross insides of the beast splat on the big man. Batista doesn’t seem too pleased with the process, unlike Drax who loved every minute of it.
12 Gamora Goofing Around
In a blooper of the scene where Drax claims Ego’s true visage would “smoosh” Quill’s mother to conceive Peter himself, an odd thing is happening: unfortunately, we just don’t know what it is. Gamora is perched atop Quill’s back while Star-Lord himself is standing with a bent spine.
The actors around them are having a great time with whatever the heck Star-Lord and Gamora are supposed to be doing, so it’s too bad we weren’t privy to this inside joke because it sure looks like a lot of fun.
11 All The Stunt Doubles
They’re not as pretty as the actors’ cast of the film, but the stunt doubles are the real risk takers who have brought this film to us. Without them, the production would have been doubled in length as many precautions would have been needed to be taken to ensure no injuries were caused to the main actors.
These people better be paid handsomely for putting their bodies on the line and so this picture in appreciation of them is totally called for.
10 Gamora Running Scene
The CGI of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was too obvious the same way The Hobbit trilogy was. Ego’s planet was made very beautifully but it did look totally fake. What didn’t look very manufactured was the scene where Nebula shot her ship’s turret guns at her sister causing Gamora to leap for safety.
It didn’t look fake because it wasn’t.
At least part of it was filmed with some authenticity as the flakes on the ground were blown up in the air with Gamora off in full flow. The cameramen are hurrying along to complete the take as well.
9 The Props Department
All those cool guns you see in these films require a lot of detail in design. Most of these don’t even make the final cut but the props do live on. The prototypes are eventually left in the production houses as part of the souvenirs collection.
It may come as a surprise that for this film all the designers for these tasty looking weapons were female. These ladies did a splendid job to bring those bombastic firearms to life.
8 The Age Gap
What use would a Celestial with the power to assimilate planets have with gadgetry designed to please puny mortals? Ego has these sentiments exactly in this picture where Peter Quill and Gamora busy themselves with smartphones while the Celestial himself dozes off in boredom.
In this day, age isn’t something that comes in the way of turning people into obsessive smartphone users, but perhaps the age group Kurt Russell belongs to is too far ahead to be wrapped into social media.
7 Drax’s Makeup Team
Batista is a freak as far as body perfection is considered. He was nicknamed Leviathan and The Animal in the WWE due to his supreme figure. Drax borrowed this frame for himself when Batista took over the role but it was impossible to bring Drax out of Big Dave without a trusty team of makeup artists.
Like the ladies with firearms before, it’s a surprise that the makeup department comprised entirely of guys, although they did a bang on awesome job at it.
6 Gamora With Her Human Children
There’s no taking breaks from being a mom. Unlike normal jobs, being a mother is full-time responsibility and not even the daughter of Thanos is spared from this. Zoe Saldana brought along her children to set and had no way around her makeup, so had to contend with playing with her children in the full Gamora get-up.
This is an idea you can have for any potential children Star-Lord and Gamora may sire in the future. For the time being, have a look at Zoe’s twins enjoying onset.
5 Gamora Makeup
Before she can go off and play with her kids, Zoe has to endure a pretty torrid time on the makeup chair to become Gamora in full force. This isn’t a fun process by any means (more violating than anything else) with paint completely dumped on her.
The paint then needs to be shaped onto her frame and all over her features to set in. Only when this is completed can she be left to cool off and become Gamora.
