Release Date: August 1, 2014
The story: After being kidnapped by aliens following the death of his mother as a young boy, Peter Quill is arrested after successfully recovering a strange orb from an abandoned planet. He, along with the tree-like humanoid Groot, talking raccoon Rocket, and Gamora the assassin, forge an alliance in prison with inmate Drax The Destroyer, to deliver the orb to a wealthy bidder Gamora has lined up, and split the profits. After a visit with the bidder reveals a powerful infinity stone hidden inside the orb, Quill and his associates decide it can’t be allowed to fall into the hands of the being seeking it: Ronan The Accuser, a vicious Kree radical working for Thanos. However, after acquiring the orb, Ronan betrays Thanos, and plans instead to wipe out all of planet Nova. Banding together with the Nova Corps fleet and the bounty hunter Yondu (who raised Quill after kidnapping him), Quill and company defeat Ronan’s ships and eventually use the power of the infinity stone to destroy him.
Who appears:
Peter Quill/Star-Lord
Gamora
Rocket Raccoon
Groot
Drax The Destroyer
Ronan The Accuser
Nebula
Thanos
Yondu Udonta
Korath
Rhomann Dey
Irani Rael/Nova Prime
The Collector
Kraglin
The Other
Noteworthy events: It’s revealed that Yondu originally kidnapped Peter Quill under contract from Quill’s alien father, and Quill learns he is only half human. The infinity stone is left under the protection of the Nova Corps.