A pilot, two aliens, a raccoon, and a talking tree. They’re not exactly Iron Man or Captain America, but after a string of nine solid hits over the past six years, Marvel Studios has more than earned the right to expand their cinematic universe into lesser-known territory. And Guardians of the Galaxy is about as obscure as they come.

The film takes the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the far reaches of the cosmos, where adventurer Peter Quill (Pratt) finds himself the object of an intergalactic manhunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by the villainous Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace). In order to evade Ronan, Quill must form an unlikely alliance with a quartet of misfits – including the gun-toting Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Cooper), green-skinned assassin Gamora (Saldana), rage-fuelled warrior Drax the Destroyer (Bautista) and Groot, a tree-like extra-terrestrial with a very limited vocabulary (voiced by Diesel). Together, the group must band together to uncover the true power of the orb, with the fate of only the entire galaxy in the balance.

Guardians of the Galaxy delivers a rollicking sci-fi adventure that hasn’t been attempted on this scale – and this fun – since (dare I say it) Star Wars. Heading up an (inter)stellar cast, Chris Pratt proves his leading man viability as the wisecracking Quill (AKA the self-proclaimed ‘Star-Lord’), while his buffed-up body serves as further proof that Marvel is secretly creating an army of physically-superior Chris-es (Chrii?), with Pratt joining Messrs Evans (Cap) and Hemsworth (Thor) in the ranks. Suit up!