The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy was officially unveiled at Comic-Con on July 20. From the announcement we’ve learned that Djimon Hounsou and Zoe Saldana are cast members of the Marvel film, based on the Marvel Comics obscure superhero team of the same name. Hounsou plays a villain named Korath the Pursuer, while Saldana is confirmed to be taking the female lead as Gamora.
Saldana’s character is described as a green-skinned alien who is the adopted daughter of Thanos. She is the last of her species, the Zen Whoberi, who were exterminated by the Badoon, according to Wikipedia. After a brutal and violent upbringing, Gamora turned against Thanos and became a key member of the Guardians team. She became very proficient in the martial arts, earning the nickname “The deadliest woman in the whole galaxy.”
Hounsou’s Korath is described by Wikipedia as such:
“Korath is a member of the alien Kree race, who was augmented by an unknown experimental cyber-genetic engineering process. He has superhuman strength, stamina, and durability. He also has the ability to psionically locate individuals by tracing their brain patterns.
“Like other Kree, Korath has the inability to breathe in Earth’s atmosphere without a special apparatus or breathing serum. Korath is an expert in cyber-genetic engineering. He is trained in the martial skills of the ancient Kree, and is a competent but relatively inexperienced armed and unarmed combatant.
“Korath wears an armored battle-suit and helmet composed of unknown alien materials. He wields two 1½ foot beta-batons which generate electrical force capable of stunning opponents into unconsciousness on contact or disrupting functions of electrical devices. By adjusting the batons, Korath can stun beings as powerful as Eternals or even intangible beings. He is capable of flight via electrically powered turbines in his boots.”
Saldana and Hounsou join Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Benicio Del Toro as The Collector, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula, and Lee Pace as Ronan.
James Gunn serves as director for the Marvel Comic film, which has already began shooting, with an expected release date of Aug. 1, 2014.
A Guardians Of The Galaxy trailer was unveiled for Comic-Con attendees, but the footage hasn’t made its way online yet. Here is a clip, courtesy of IGN, where Djimon Hounsou and Benicio Del Toro speak about their roles in the film.
