Why The Guardians Of The Galaxy Might Flop

With the success of Iron Man, Marvel Studios stormed the industry with Thor and Captain America to finally establish their position with The Avengers. The Guardians of the Galaxy is, I would say, another gamble just as big as Iron Man was, if not more. Although their gamble with Iron Man paid off, I have a feeling that this time will be a different story. Keep in mind that I am thinking of general audience overseas (as I am part of them,) and not in the US (and perhaps some of Europe.) Here's why:
 
1. Gamble of the Unknown
Starting off with Iron Man was a gamble because Iron Man was not as well-known a character as Spider-Man or Wolverine were at that time.  However, he was KNOWN nonetheless. He was a superhero in the classic sense, quite a few people read his comic book, he had his own cartoon show way back then and made guest appearances in some other cartoon shows, had some kids' merchandise like T-shirts and bags. They didn't know Tony Stark the wealthy playboy, never heard of arc reactor or repulsor beams, but at least generally people knew that a superhero character called Iron Man existed, that he wore armor and shot laser beams from his hands and perhaps his eyes.
 
The Guardians of the Galaxy, on the other hand, is even less known than Iron Man was then. Globally, very little people read their comic books, no cartoon shows, no merchandise, nothing. They're not even "superheroes" in the classic sense.
 
2. Lack of Vehicle
Prior to these last few movies, we saw Spider-Man month, Thor month and Captain America month in Disney XD Channel, showcasing these characters in the Ultimate Spider-Man and The Avengers animated series. They had a vehicle to ride on, along with the explosive amount of TV spot trailers. Children would nag their parents to watch those movies (and some adults, like me, also watch Disney XD along with their children.) Cable movie channels and local TV channels aired the Spider-Man movies and so on and so forth.
 
Guardians don't have any of these. They don't even appear as guest star in The Avengers animated series. They don't appear anywhere, period. Disney will, undoubtedly, place a lot of TV spot trailers. Still, to the general audience, it's just a trailer of some sci-fi action movie. People still don't know them. The hype and success of Iron Man, Thor and Avengers have no effect on them. They can only say something like "From the people that brought you Iron Man and The Avengers..." but there's no real relation felt by the general audience.
 
3. Ignored Post-credit Scene
Probably ALL movie audience in the US stay in the theater for the mid-credit/post-credit scene these days. Overseas, people are leaving even before the credit starts rolling. I stayed alone (only with my family) on Iron Man, and with less than 10 people on The Winter Soldier and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
 
Even to people that stayed on The Dark World, they might not even realize that The Collector is there in The Guardians of the Galaxy. So, again, no relation to previous Marvel movies.
 
4. Lack of Hype
The hype we've been having with Guardians so far is exclusively on the internet. General people overseas are not that heavy on using the internet, people actively searching for comic book related films are even less so. Censorship on the internet in some countries are crazy tight that it's hard to find anything at all.
  So, they have Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, in voice only. Even if people see the trailer, they don't see Diesel's infamous smirk. Zoe Saldana is quite well-known internationally, but not in a central role. Other than that, people will ask, who is Chris Pratt? Who is Dave Bautista?
 
6. The Competition
Let's first list the action films that release on August here:
- Ninja Turtles (comic books, cartoon shows, movies, ongoing animated series)
- Lucy (with ScarJo and Morgan Freeman, and Luc Besson also well-known internationally)
- The Expendables 3 (a sequel, crammed with big name stars)
- Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (a sequel, also with big names)
 
Even the horror/thriller, drama and comedy films have the chance to be strong competitors this August. We have The Giver with Jeff Bridges and Merryl Streep, November Man with Pierce Brosnan and Olga Kurylenko, both from the ever popular James Bond franchise, Let's Be Cops with the Wayans,  Life After Beth, The Loft, Life of Crime.
 
So, it's a tough competition.
 
In regards to all that, what can Disney do to boost the popularity of Guardians? The opposite of all that, certainly, which are:
 
1. Put them on film and entertainment magazines. Plenty of these magazines have local versions overseas. The internet is not enough.
 
2. Produce some episodes of The Avengers animated series with Guardians as guest stars. I don't know if it's still possible, but if it is, then don't be stingy.
 
3. Make a different international TV spot and theatrical trailers. Incorporate clips of The Avengers in there. Make sure people realize that they are indeed in the same universe.
 
<img src="https://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/19214/gamora%20edit%202%20small.jpg"></img> 4. Produce behind the scene clips and put them in cable and local channels, making sure people realize who are behind the voice of Groot and Rocket. Reintroduce Zoe Saldana, making sure people remember that they've seen her before in Star Trek, Losers, Avatar and Pirates (if rights ownership permits.) Putting Glenn Close up there is not a bad idea either. I don't think I've seen her in the trailers or stills.
 
 
Soooo, that's it, I guess. I hope they will do that. As a matter of fact, I'm certain they will do something in essence similar to that, if not exactly that. I know Disney and Kevin Feige are not stupid. I'm sure they figured this out before I did. I want this to be a success and develops into a franchise of its own, crossing over with The Avengers eventually. That would be awesome.
 
Thanks for reading. Whether you agree or disagree, I urge you to keep the name-calling to yourself and comment in the usual section. Keep it civil, guys!