Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie won’t be in theaters until August, but the recent release of a trailer for the movie already has everyone talking about the superhero movie-slash-offbeat space comedy.

 Guardians of the Galaxy, slated for an August 1, 2014 release, is a team movie, but the trailer makes it clear these guys are no Avengers. Token human Star-Lord is more Han Solo than Captain America. Gamora and Drax are alien muscle, one seeking to redeem herself and the other on a mission of vengeance. And then there’s Rocket Raccoon and Groot, a trigger-happy raccoon enhanced through alien experiments and his simple-minded tree creature sidekick. Considering the trailer highlights the team being captured by Marvel’s space police, the Nova Corps, and then violently breaking out of jail, it’s safe to say this team is firmly in the realm of anti-heroes.

 Marvel’s banking on the goodwill they earned from their previous movies with GotG. A movie based on such an offbeat, not-at-all-mainstream comic wouldn’t even exist if Marvel Studios hadn’t done so much to earn the public’s trust with The Avengers. Thor and Thor 2: The Dark World were far better than any movie starring the superhero version of the Norse thunder god had any right to be – prior to director Kenneth Branagh’s take on the character, Marvel’s Thor got about as much respect as DC Comics’s Aquaman. But ever since the first Iron Man, the Marvel Studios moniker has become an indicator of excellent action movies that get to the core of the comics and embrace their action-packed, character-driven roots, and the movie-going public has shown their appreciation for that in box office dollars.

 Of course, box office dollars aren’t the only ones to be earned here. Both the comics-making and the movie-making sides of Marvel are owned by Disney, and they know how to sell merchandise. Rocket Raccoon may seem an unlikely comic character to be featured in a movie, but he seems less so when you figure in the kid appeal at the heart of a walking, talking, gun-toting raccoon. Giant toy company Hasbro currently has the rights to make toys based on all things Marvel, and they’re prepared to fill the shelves with talking raccoons this holiday season. At Toy Fair, the industry show held in New York City every February, they showed off standard-sized action figures, a foot-tall “Big Blastin’” Rocket Raccoon, a role-play mask – everything short of a plush toy. He may be obscure, but he’s also immensely marketable.

 And though I hate to harsh that “Hooked on a Feeling” groove, I’d like to take a moment to remind readers that characters such as Rocket Raccoon aren’t created in a corporate boardroom. They’re created by comic writers and artists. And the creator of Rocket Raccoon was a man named Bill Mantlo, who in 1992 was struck by a hit-and-run driver and has lived ever since with irreparable brain damage. Since his work for Marvel was, like most comic work, on a work-for-hire basis, none of the money coming from all those movie tickets and toys is likely to be going toward his care. If, like me, you find this terribly unjust, you can donate to help with his medical care via his brother and legal guardian, Mike Mantlo.