By: Grant Vance ~Staff Writer~

“Guardians of the Galaxy” is an upcoming Marvel film that will soon draw a lot of attention.

The film will act as part of Marvel’s “Phase 2,” accompanying “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” in its newly adopted twofilm- a-year line-up in order to usher out new films and expand the ever growing cinematic universe.

This is a risky movie for Marvel, considering “Guardians of the Galaxy” is a little-known comic book property.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” can best be described as a space superhero flick/sci-fi thriller in the same respects as “Star Wars.” The film follows the unlikely team of Star Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), a ragtag mix of humans and aliens, all joined together by the common force of a universe threatening villain, Ronan. The film will usher in important changes for the superhero genre.

For instance, it shows Marvel stretching out of its comfort zone for a lesser known franchise, meaning more obscure fan favorites are sure to follow if “Guardians of the Galaxy” is successful.

Marvel is using “Guardians of the Galaxy” in order to set up the next “Avengers” film. This has already been subtly used with the post-credits scene in “Thor: The Dark World,” but it is interesting to consider Marvel using such an experimental film in order to start fully characterizing their looming villain, Thanos.

James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” hits theaters Aug. 1, not long after “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” on April 4th.