How Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind Worked With MCU, Marvel Studios

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind is bringing the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Walt Disney World’s EPCOT park, with the new attraction set to open later this month. ComicBook.com attended a preview event for the indoor roller coaster, getting a look at all of the marvelous details that it has to offer. The new attraction features footage of the Guardians of the Galaxy characters, with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, and Dave Bautista having reprised their roles of Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax, respectively. Rocket and Groot are also on hand with new actors lending voices to the computerized characters. Disney Imagineers spoke with ComicBook.com in Orlando, opening up about the process of collaborating with the Marvel Studios.

“We had a great opportunity to tie in with the third film for our shoot here,” Disney imagineering’s VFX Supervisor and Creative Designer Christopher Smith told ComicBook.com. “So, we have some of the familiar faces that you’ll notice. Peter Quill, Star-Lord, as he likes to be called, and some others are back and we got to work with that team putting that together. So they were all fantastic. We got so much fun stuff to see here, in multiple areas of the ride. I don’t want to spoil it. You’ll have to come and see it.”

Upon arrival at the Wonders of Xandar pavilion, park guests are immersed into this otherworldly space defined by technology of the Nova CORPS. “What’s great about this is just there’s story from the front door till you finish the coaster,” Disney Imagineering’s Principal Special Effects Designer and Illusion Development Lead Daniel Joseph explained. “We have almost a feature film worth of media in here. So that idea was, how do we put something in every corner for the guests to see and to study and to learn something about our story. That was such a gratifying process for us to work with each other, but then to dive into the Guardians of the Galaxy, that storyline and figure out, ‘Well, how does Xandar play here?’ They came here and brought this all to us. So we are learning about their technology. We’re learning about their city in the gallery. We learn about our heroes, the Guardians, that they revere because they saved their planet. So it’s a lot of that type of stuff and it’s super fun.”

As far as Easter eggs are concerned, Smith suggested that guests, “keep your eyes open,” throughout the queue line and actual attraction. Some Easter eggs are pretty exciting for Marvel Comics fans, as is the merch is Cosmic Rewind’s gift shop. 

The ride itself features appearances and voices of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, captured while they were also filming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The ride itself has a similar intensity to the movies. Families can ride it together, it has some thrills and laughs, and never flips into anything too crazy. “I’d say we wanted this to be a family coaster, so it’s definitely close to Space Mountain, as far as thrill level goes, but not as far as something like Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster,” Joseph explained. “So the height on it, people can go on it and kids that are 42 inches and taller, which is pretty great. My seven year old can go on this and enjoy it with me, which is pretty cool.”

Are you excited to experience Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind? Share your thoughts in the comment section or send them my way on Twitter! Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind opens to the public on May 27.