Guardians of the Galaxy

Everyone has assumed that, at some point towards the end of this current Marvel Cinematic Universe, the paths of the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers would cross. Yes, one superhero team is busy protecting Earth, and the other occupied in outer space, it makes too much sense to not have them meet up in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ right? Never mind the “it makes sense” part, we just really want this to happen. Well, we might never happen according to ‘Guardians’ director James Gunn who warns fans about making such assumptions.

It’s that time of the year, when pop culture websites and critics publish their annual Best Of lists and we heap praise on the best and most beloved movies and TV shows of the year. But what about the average moviegoer and TV-viewer? That’s where Facebook comes in. The social media site has released their top 10 movies and top 10 TV shows of the year, based on the most discussed titled of 2014. While some are fairly obvious, the lists might surprise you and inspire you to contemplate the overlap between what’s popular and what’s actually good.

There is doubt the number one movie of the year was 'Guardians of the Galaxy' so here are seven things you might not know about the film. Even though the movie is based on a minor comic book it did pretty good at the box office.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is the biggest movie of 2014. It’s made over $750 million worldwide. Kids love it. Adults love it. Grandparents even love it. Lots of people (us included!) have seen the movie multiple times, but do you know everything there is to know about Marvel’s latest superhero phenomenon? They're the frickin Guardians of the Galaxy!

The whole Marvel Cinematic Universe is based around the fact that the strongest power in the universe are these magical Infinity Stones, gems of incredible power over time and space. When Ronan the Accuser combines an Infinity Stone with his hammer in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,’ he becomes nigh-invulnerable and almost unbeatable. The only things left to stop him from destroying the universe are the Guardians… and dance moves. Sweet hot funky dance moves.

We'd previously heard that the 'Bond 24' filmmakers wanted the villain for the upcoming sequel to be unlike the modern day villains and instead a throwback to the big hulking henchmen like Jaws or Oddjob. The casting call was looking for "an imposing, extremely physically fit actor" over 6'2" tall. Not a ton of guys like that around, but the director Sam Mendes didn't have to look further than the biggest movie of the year.

As we quickly learned after watching Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' the world has much more love to give to this intergalactic band of superhero misfits. Aside from the upcoming 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' in 2017, an announcement at New York Comic Con confirms a new animated TV series is coming to Disney XD, and the first poster and test footage for the affair have landed.

We all know what you've been thinking since you saw Rocket Raccoon and dancing Groot steal our hearts on the big screen: when can we take home Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' on Blu-ray and DVD, or even Digital Download? Just, when can we take this bad boy home, period? Well, you're in luck, because Marvel announced the home release dates for its superhero space opera. And guess what?! They come with an exclusive sneak peek at 'Avengers 2'!

While 'Guardians of the Galaxy' was able to pleasantly surprise people with how good it is, now all eyes are on 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2' and whether it can live up to the original. One thing we've all wondered about the sequel is whether the Guardians would be introduced to any Earth-bound heroes, or vice versa. Could there be any new members of the Guardians of the Galaxy?

A few weeks ago, this column was skeptical that Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' could reach $300 million. Now, it seems impossible that it won't. Thanks to ecstatic word of mouth, killer marketing and only one genuinely successful box office challenger (that would be 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'), Marvel's oddball space opera has managed to spend three of the past four weekends at the number one spot at the box office, giving it enough momentum to officially become the highest grossing film of 2014.