By Brent McKnight | 6 years ago

The team in Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy is made of some very interesting characters. Their leader, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), is a petty thief; they have a blue, heavily tattooed goon named Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista); as well as two hooligans in the form of Rocket (Bradley Cooper), an anthropomorphic raccoon, and Groot, an eight-foot-tall alien tree. The last member of this unusual band of outlaws it the green-skinned assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and now she has her very own solo character poster.

This is the second such poster released by Fandango this week—they’ll be debuting a new one every day—and follows hot on the heels of the Rocket/Groot-centric one sheet from yesterday. Gamora may not look all that threatening in this image, at least at first glance, but rest assured, she’s not one to trifle with. That wry smile belies sinister intentions and the ass kicking ability to back them up. And when you see that weapon, casually gripped in her left hand, you know things are about to go south for you very, very fast.

Directed by James Gunn, when it was first announced, this adaptation seemed like a strange move for the comic book giant, especially when they announced that Pratt, a fun, but untested leading man, was cast as the protagonist. Everything about this felt like a risk. While important to the Marvel universe, and popular among fans, this isn’t a title with a huge general fan base.

Despite those initial misgivings, however, the studio has done nothing but make this looks like the best time we’ll have at the movies all year. The mix of high action and sarcastic humor looks damn near perfect, and Guardians is responsible for some of the best trailers and TV spots we’ve encountered so far this year. From what we can tell, the movie is strange enough to satisfy those looking for something different, but also accessible enough that it could very well be another huge hit. This appears to have a style all its own, rather than fitting into the larger, more homogenous aesthetic of most of the other Marvel movies. Maybe that’s Gunn, or maybe that’s because the action is moving in a different direction than the previous films.

When Star-Lord steals a mysterious orb, which may turn out to be one of the Infinity Gems, it kicks off a galaxy wide manhunt and the unlikely collection of misfits and criminals must find a way to work together in order to save the day. Guardians of the Galaxy also stars Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin, and opens everywhere August 1.