Predator: Badlands Director Almost Made Guardians of the Galaxy

Yes, but not as much as you think. Not only is the first Guardians film co-written by studio hand Nicole Perlman, who also wrote Captain Marvel and Pokémon Detective Pikachu, she was the one who advocated for it in the first place, itself a comic book series recently reimagined by writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Before Abnett and Lanning came aboard, the Guardians of the Galaxy were essentially the Avengers of the future, a team of aliens who band together in the 31st century to battle the oppressive Badoon.

In 2006, Marvel enlisted writer Keith Giffen to revamp the company’s cosmic line with the crossover Annihilation. Out from that, Abnett and Lanning brought together space-based C-listers into a new team, revising their characteristics along the way. Originally a Hulk-like idiot in a purple cape, Drax the Destroyer became a stoic killer; originally a Buck Rogers-esque space adventurer, Star-Lord became a complicated hero struggling with failure; originally an invading monster from Planet X, Groot became a tree man who says “I am Groot.”

Of course, Gunn put his own spin on those characters, making Drax a different kind of idiot and giving Star-Lord a love of ’70s and ’80s pop music. But the basics were there before he came aboard.

All of which means that Dan Trachtenberg could totally have worked on Guardians of the Galaxy and given us something similar to what we now have, albeit with a different spin. Given the success that both Gunn and Trachtenberg have had lately, we’re glad things worked out the way they did. But imagine what weirdness Trachtenberg could bring to the superhero genre should he ever have the opportunity again to walk in James Gunn’s footsteps.

Predator: Badlands is now playing in theaters.