With The Avengers coming down the pipeline and subsequent sequels being paired off for each member, Marvel is looking to the future regarding what other properties it can bring to the screen. Word has already travelled of an untitled Doctor Strange film in the works, and now Kevin Feige—President of Production at Marvel Studios—has gone public with an already long-rumored project: the Guardians of the Galaxy is getting the screen treatment.
The "Guardians" was first published in 1969 (revamped in 2008) and focuses on a team of superheroes (none of whom are known to anyone other than comic fans) from an alternate timeline in the Marvel universe. The kick is that each member, allegedly, is the last of their kind and band together to fight various alien races hell-bent on domination of various systems and galaxies.
Talk has brewed for some time on bringing the “Guardians” to film, but given the less mainstream popularity of its heroes, the scope in which the story occurs and the money it would cost, it never picked up any traction. How The Avengers performs will play a big part in when and how the Guardians get their own feature, but we could be seeing a trend towards Marvel Studios embracing the more universal/magical aspects of their library.