You have to give Marvel Studios credit: they are doing an excellent job at drumming up interest for Guardians of the Galaxy. If you were unaware of this particular Marvel franchise prior to the marketing campaign for the film, then you must at least have some mild interest in it by now. If you don’t, it’s none of Marvel’s fault. Between TV spots, trailers, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and character posters, Marvel is doing its absolute best to get mainstream viewers into the seats when Guardians opens in August.
The latest character poster to have its day in the sun features the duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot, voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel respectively. If “gun-toting, talking raccoon” didn’t get you the first time, perhaps “alien tree creature” will. The poster is certainly an eye-catcher, if nothing else, and pretty much highlights the insanity we might expect from Guardians of the Galaxy. We’ve had Norse gods, iron men, and super soldiers – why not talking trees?
Of course, the question remains whether your average movie-goer has been convinced by all the hype Marvel has put into Guardians of the Galaxy. Will a tree and a nocturnal mammal really inspire people to check out a film, or will the silliness included in this poster cause little more than shrugs and eye-rolls? A lot of folks have faith in Marvel Studios, but there is such a thing as over-saturation. We’ve had an awful lot of Marvel in the past few years; Guardians of the Galaxy could prove if a limited franchise really has legs.
You can check out the Rocket and Groot character poster below. Then check back later this week: there will be even more posters to come, featuring more human lead characters.
Guardians of the Galaxy comes to cinemas August 1, 2014.