Guardians Of The Galaxy: Marvel And Disney Banking On WWE And Capcom For Movie’s Popularity

For fellow nerds and geeks alike, along with the many movie fans who’ve enjoyed the Marvel films, X-Men: Days of Future Past was a phenomenal movie. It received a lot of praise and was even dubbed the movie that would “restore faith in the X-Men franchise.”

Even The Inquisitr has given this movie a phenomenal review! Unfortunately for Marvel, they won’t be able to breathe just yet. The next Marvel movie is titled Guardians of the Galaxy, and when I watched X-Men: Days of Future Past for review, I realized something about the trailer (which had an Expendables 3 vibe), or should I say, how everyone reacted to the trailer: nobody seemed to care. That is right! Nobody seems to care about Guardians of the Galaxy. Why is that?

To be frank, Guardians of the Galaxy is not exactly one of the most well-known Marvel comic franchises. So far, the big eight would include X-Men (and to a lesser extent their multiple incarnations), Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Punisher, and the Fantastic Four.

Why would these eight be considered the big eight of Marvel? Maybe it is because of how much they’ve been used as a franchise. From toys to cartoons to video games, they’ve been utilized quite often, and they are easy money-makers. Other heroes can also make a decent amount of money if linked to the Big Eight, such as Daredevil being linked to Spider-Man. Guardians of the Galaxy is technically linked to no other franchise as of now, or should I say, most people don’t know the Marvel link between Guardians of the Galaxy and other Marvel franchises.

In that case, how will Marvel (and let’s face it, Disney) be able to bank on a movie when the majority of people don’t know the history of the characters? Even for comic book fans, Guardians of the Galaxy is a franchise that may have gone underneath their nerd and geek radar. I know because it went underneath mine. The answer lies in how Guardians of the Galaxy links with other major franchises outside of Marvel. And lucky for the movie, they are well-known franchises that may be considered experts in their field.

Capcom’s Link To Guardians Of The Galaxy

Probably, the first time most people have even heard of anything related to Guardians of the Galaxy was through one of their members being a playable character in one of the most anticipated video games in the industry: Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

The member from the Marvel movie to be featured; Rocket Raccoon (who was technically added in the game’s updated version Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3). Video gamers were introduced to the animorphic raccoon as he wielded a large arsenal of traps and guns hidden in… well nobody really knows. Still, if the Rocket Raccoon in the movie is anything like in this game, then he may truly be the most dangerous member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Anyone who can call in a nuclear missile drop has to be dangerous, right?

The fact that Rocket Raccoon is in the video game is probably a call from Marvel themselves. True, the relationship Marvel and Capcom have was actually good, so why not make requests for certain characters to be in the game? In the end, the primary reason for Rocket Raccoon’s inclusion has got to be the Marvel movie adaption. Any promotion of its characters – especially in the most anticipated cross-over fighting game – would be great to bring people up to speed.

WWE’s Link To Guardians Of The Galaxy

If a link to a popular video game company isn’t enough for Marvel, how about the biggest wrestling promotion in the world? Apparently, Marvel does have that established since their upcoming Marvel film is linked to WWE. You might ask how it is and it comes down to one actor: David Bautista. Why? David Bautista – who plays Drax the Destroyer – was originally a wrestler for the WWE… and he recently went back. Don’t believe me, check out his new Titantron entrance below.

Back in the last decade, David Bautista (who went by the wrestling moniker Batista) dominated the WWE landscape as “The Animal.” Participating in some of the most memorable rivalries, especially against The Undertaker and John Cena, Batista showed off his dominance.

He even was part of a very popular stable based on Ric Flair’s Four Horseman known as Evolution. Upon his return at WWE Royal Rumble 2014, he was booked to become a prominent name again, which began with him winning the rumble. Marvel, I am sure, was very happy about the prospects, and maybe they knew Bautista would return to the WWE well in advance. Why not bring promotion for Guardians of the Galaxy to the WWE fans?

So there you have it! Marvel (and once again Disney) are banking on the fandom links to wrestling and video games to pick up the slack for the lack of enthusiasm most people have shown for this Marvel movie. Unfortunately, both Capcom and WWE are having issues, which works against Marvel. Both companies are losing ground due to shoddy business practices and not knowing what their consumers want. Nevertheless, here is hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy does well, especially since there are a lot of big names tied to the Marvel movie, including Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.

[Image via Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy poster]