PLANET HULK Movie Ties Into GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Villains

I was chatting with a few fanboys today, and it seems that some of you fine folks never caught on to one of Marvel’s new reveals in Guardians of the Galaxy. Director James Gunn has included Sakaarans, of planet Sakaar, as one of the cool alien species in his galaxy hopping flick (and could possibly tie into a Planet Hulk Movie).

Now, this might not mean that much to the lay-geek, but the more learned scholars amongst us will realize Sakaar is the setting in the Planet Hulk story arch. You know, that one time Tony Stark and the rest of the world’s smartest folks tricked Bruce Banner’s greener side into a deep space rocket, exiling him for parts unknown. Hulk’s spaceship accidentally took a left turn into a wormhole, weakening our favorite rage puncher, and forcing his ship to crash land on Sakaar. Ruled in Roman fashion, Hulk was imprisoned and forced into gladiatorial combat. He eventual escaped, recruited a band of rebels, and successfully led a revolution against the ruling class.

Marvel’s head honcho Kevin Feige refuses to entertain the notion of a Planet Hulk Movie, as it’d soon transform our heroic Iron Man into a villain, but the inclusion of the Sakaarans is a strong first step.

They might not be as cool as their comic book iterations. The cinematic Sakaarans follow the 1960’s sci-fi trope of “they’re literally the same as human beings, except their skin’s a prime color!”. A bit lame, considering how badass modern CGI could interpret these humanoids. A subtle hue here, skin flushes here… I don’t know, something that looks different than an actress dipped in a bin of Sherwin Williams.