James Gunn Reflects On 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' One Year Later

It's been just over a year since Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters, impressing Marvel fans around the world, and even some who weren't the biggest supporters of Marvel's cinematic universe. The sci-fi adventure proved to be one of the more original films from Marvel Studios, and it's really opened up the comic book studio's world in a big way.

And with one year passing since the theatrical release, director James Gunn reflected on his first big budget blockbuster and went out of his way to thank fans who made it such a huge hit, making him feel like he made the movie everyone wanted to see, whether they knew it or not. Find out what James Gunn had to say about Guardians of the Galaxy one year later after the jump!

Here's Gunn's post from his Facebook page:

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One year ago today, Guardians of the Galaxy opened up in the U.S. and many places around the world. The movie massively...

Posted by James Gunn on Saturday, August 1, 2015

Despite all the naysaying out there about Marvel Studios meddling with their filmmakers and forcing them to conform to a predetermined, working formula, Guardians of the Galaxy is evidence that this doesn't mean we won't get vibrant, rich, fantastic films. But at the same time, Guardians of the Galaxy is so inherently different from the rest of the superhero movies Marvel Studios has produced, it really needed to stand out in order to work.

Now the problem is that since James Gunn knocked the first film out of the park, delivering a satisfactory sequel will be quite the challenge. Thankfully, it sounds like that won't be a problem, since the pitch for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (which has a clever title) brought tears to the eyes of the film's star Chris Pratt.

As of now, we don't know much about where Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will take us, but it will put the focus on the family of our titular heroes (specifically fathers) and has been said to be more emotional than the first. The question is whether the sequel will begin to tie a little more directly to the rest of the Marvel cinematic universe, especially with new characters like Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel on the way for Phase Three.

Guardians of the Galaxy opened up a whole cosmic universe out there that can grow and flourish just as well as the comic book world on Earth, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the franchise keep to itself for the most part, with the exception of Chris Pratt crossing over into other Marvel movies at some point. He is from Earth after all. And if it's going to happen, count on The Avengers: Infinity War being the time to see it.

How do you feel about Guardians of the Galaxy one year later?