Some would have you believe that Guardians of the Galaxy was a risky venture for Marvel Studios. Based on relatively unknown characters and tasked with ushering in the Cosmic era, it has a lot to contend with and even more riding on it. If it was a risk, it’s paid off… big time. Guardians is right up there with the very best Marvel has made – bold, brash, fast-paced and action-packed, not to mention the funniest blockbuster in ages.

Everything revolves around Peter Quill, an Earthling who was abducted as a child and raised amongst the stars. Quill grows up to become something of a self-styled outlaw – the legendary Star-Lord, no less – who spends his days raiding tombs and hawking valuable trinkets around the galaxy, and his nights romancing the indigenous lifeforms. The film opens with Quill retrieving one such treasure – a small silver orb that suddenly everyone wants. He soon meets Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot – a bunch of intergalactic waifs and strays, thrown together by circumstance and misfortune. But there are more darker forces at play, who want the orb for sinister reasons than simply making a quick buck.

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