I won’t get to see Guardians of the Galaxy until tonight, unfortunately, but I’ve already heard that for a story which involves talking raccoon and a giant Vin Diesel tree, it’s a surprising tearjerker. Speaking of surprising tearjerkers, you know what else gets me all choked up? Literally everything else I’ve heard about GotG so far, starting with the screening Marvel put together for disabled Rocket Raccoon creator Bill Mantlo.
Mantlo, who first created the character of Rocket along with artist Keith Giffen in 1976, was the victim of a hit-and-run in 1992 and has been recovering from a traumatic brain injury ever since, which leaves him and his family saddled with expensive medical bills for his continuous care. According to his brother and legal guardian, Michael Mantlo, Marvel and the comic creator have always had a fairly good relationship with one another (though despite compensating him for “anything that he’s entitled to compensation for,” they haven’t been able to cover all his expenses, so please consider donating to his rehabilitation fund to help out yourself). But the company decided to up the ante recently by hosting a private screening of the film for Mantlo’s friends and family.
Michael discussed the screening on the Facebook page for fans of his brother’s work, saying:
*****WHAT AN INCREDIBLE DAY FOR BILL MANTLO*****! Marvel hooked Bill up with a PRIVATE VIEWING of “Guardians Of The Galaxy”, and my wife Liz and my beloved cousin Jean assisted Bill throughout, enabling him to sit back, relax and relish in the AWESOMENESS of what is going to be, in my humble opinion, Marvel’s GREATEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM EVER! Bill thoroughly enjoyed it, giving it his HIGHEST COMPLIMENT (the BIG “THUMB’S UP!”), and when the credits rolled, his face was locked into the HUGEST SMILE I HAVE EVER SEEN HIM WEAR (along with one or two tears of joy)! This was the GREATEST DAY OF THE LAST 22 YEARS for me, our family, and most importantly, BILL MANTLO!
And he included a photo from the end titles, which credit both Mantlo and Giffen with the creation of Rocket:
In news that’s just a little bit lighter, the movie’s director James Gunn also took to Facebook to deliver a heartfelt message to the cast, crew, and audience for the film. Wait, you might be misunderstanding me: I say “lighter news,” but you’re still going to be crying.
Here’s the beginning of the message, which can be read in its entirety here:
Thanks to all of you who saw (and are seeing) Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, from the bottom of my heart. The Guardians are a group of oddballs, outcasts, and geeks. The movie is for anyone who ever felt cast aside, left out, or different. It’s for all of us who don’t belong. This movie belongs to you. And, today, I think we’re doing okay.
I am of course happy with all the film has accomplished box-office-wise. But what touches me the most is that the film I told the folks at Marvel I wanted to make two years ago is the film that you’re seeing in theaters today – it’s that so many of you seem to be directly EXPERIENCING the film I INTENDED. The cast, the producers, the crew, and I felt like we were making something special while we were making it. But it is very rare that a director’s INTENTIONS in creating a film, or a scene, or a character, or a line of dialogue are, seemingly, specifically what is experienced by an audience (not to mention critics!), and that seems to be what has happened here. You have allowed a talking raccoon – for a moment, a minute, or a day – to make you a little more human. And for that, I am profoundly grateful.
If I relied on myself to implement these intentions, the film would be a shambling mess. But instead, I had a wonderful cast, genius producers, an incredibly brave studio, sublimely talented visual effects artists, great editors, and the best damn crew of mostly-British bastards to actually implement these intentions for me. Where I had a good idea they would, through alchemy, transform it into a great one. Many of you involved are friends of mine on Facebook. Many of you will read this somewhere else. I love you all.
Between this, the Mantlo screening, and Chris Pratt stealing his costume to go visit sick children, you are all trying to kill us with heartwarming joy, aren’t you? Just admit it, Marvel! This was your plan all along so you could crush our spirits with giant murder robots when Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out next year! I am on to your schemes! *sob*
(via Comics Alliance and Collider)
Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, & Google +?
