CREDIT: MARVEL
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy looks ridiculous and amazing.

NOTE: Before I begin, please note that this week's column is completely my own opinion, so please don't take this as truth, although if you agree you're probably pretty cool.

In mid-February, Marvel Studios debuted the first trailer for the blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy, coming to theatres this summer. The film is the latest entry in Marvel's all-dominating film universe that has owned cinemas every summer since Robert Downey Jr. reminded the world he existed in Iron Man.

For those of you who have no idea who the Guardians of the Galaxy are, don't worry, I didn't either; only my most comic-savvy friends had any knowledge of who these characters were.

Guardians seemed an odd entry in a film series made up of household superhero names like Captain America and the Hulk, but the movie looks like it will be amazing, which is unsurprising considering how impressive the Marvel films continue to be. What struck me while watching the trailer is that this is a studio that is utterly (almost recklessly) confident in what it is doing, far more than DC Comics.

Flying in the face of Marvel's consistency, films based on DC Comics' characters have been woefully inconsistent, struggling to find success with critics or fans, with the exception of the excellent Dark Knight trilogy (although I do have some issues with the third one). Last summer's Superman reboot Man of Steel, was slow paced and self-indulgent attempt to erase 2006's yawn-inducing reboot Superman Returns; 2009's Watchmen was incredible, but utterly confusing for anyone unfamiliar with the source; and 2011's Green Lantern was so bad that scrolling past it in Netflix makes me nauseous. The studio has even split the opinions of the fans it does have with the announcement of Ben Affleck as the next Batman, set to appear in the as-yet-unnamed Man of Steel sequel.

It's a strange situation where one studio can announce a respected Oscar winner as the man to lead its marquee franchise into the future and be met with a tidal wave of emotion ranging from indifference to outrage, and its competitors can cast Andy from Parks & Recreation as the leader of a team of interstellar peacekeepers and be met with nothing but enthusiasm. (Oh, and did I mention that Vin Diesel plays a living tree and Bradley Cooper plays a gun-toting raccoon? Guardians really does look awesome!)

It's this spirit of fun that pulses through every Marvel film that I think makes them so much more successful than the consistently grim world of DC movies, a glumness that has even sunk its claws into television's Arrow.

As Marvel continues its plan for cinematic domination now and into the future, with the Avengers sequel and Ant-Man starring Paul Rudd (another bit of casting that is inexplicably perfect), DC needs to take a look at what they are releasing and realize that the endless parade of brooding, gritty heroes can be a little tiresome. Its roster consists of an alien whose only weakness is a green rock, a billionaire bat ninja, a goateed Robin Hood impersonator and a Martian who loves Oreos — it's not as serious as they like to think it is.