Guardians of the Galaxy are a crucial part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe right now, however, Marvel Studios was afraid to integrate them into the storyline as they were worried the characters would be a major flop, particularly Rocket Raccoon. Initially, there were concerns that all these characters with no popularity getting their own film would cause a major financial loss for the studios.
Thanks to Kevin Feige’s support, James Gunn’s direction, and Nicole Perlman’s screenplay, 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was a massive hit and the characters instantly became popular among the fans. As for Rocket Raccoon, the iconic character that Marvel wanted to remove, went on to become a central MCU character, appearing in six films as of 2023.
Marvel was terrified of releasing Guardians of the Galaxy
The recently published book, MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, is an in-depth story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In one section of the book, it has been revealed that Marvel was initially reluctant to release Guardians of the Galaxy. An insider who worked at Marvel during the development of Guardians of the Galaxy recalled,
“It seems so simple now but don’t forget that selling a talking tree and a raccoon was the dumbest thing you’d ever heard. We were terrified. One of the phrases we always used was ‘We’re terrified, we’re drinking the Kool-Aid that nobody else is.’ We were like, “This is so good, but are people going to agree with us?'”
The fact that all these characters had no popularity and they were getting their solo film was something that terrified everyone as it was a gamble.
Rocket Raccoon was compared to Jar Jar Binks
The idea of a raccoon and a talking tree was baffling for many at first, in fact, one Marvel executive suggested that Rocket Raccoon would end up like the Star Wars character named Jar Jar Binks, however, the book revealed that Kevin Feige was firm on keeping Rocker Raccoon in the movie.
Nicole Perlman, who wrote the screenplay of Guardians of the Galaxy with James Gunn, revealed that her parents were sure that the movie would be a failure,
“For years, I told my parents, I’m working on a movie about a raccoon – well, not about a raccoon, but it has a raccoon and a talking tree.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, you poor thing. We’re going to be so supportive when you have your first major flop!'”
Upon release, the movie grossed over $773 million worldwide and became the third-highest-grossing film of 2014. It was praised by fans as well as critics, kicking off the journey of Guardians of the Galaxy in the MCU.
