Marvel released both character introductions and the first official poster on Thursday (Twitter, via @Marvel).

"What a bunch of a-holes" were the words that concluded the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trailer. 

The first official trailer for the next film in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was released Tuesday, and Marvel continued its promotion of the film today with the release of 30-second character introductions. For viewers unfamiliar with the comic book canon, they served to flesh out the "a-holes" described only briefly in the trailer.

The extra publicity may be a wise move, as this film breaks the conventions Marvel has become known for in an interesting way. To point out one of the more glaring differences, a machine-gun toting raccoon is one of the main characters.

That's not to say that "Guardians" is entirely new territory for Marvel. They have done sarcastic in the "Iron Man" movies, space in "Thor 2: The Dark World" and ensembles in "The Avengers."

Most of the Guardians are either non-human or non-conventionally human, and fans are at the very least intrigued by the film. The trailer has nearly 7 million views as of Thursday afternoon. If executed well, this film could open studios to more non-traditional comic book characters.

The Guardians will be played by Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon, Vin Diesel as Groot, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill (or, as he styles himself, Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana as Gamora and Dave Bautista as Drax.

In addition to the clips, Marvel also released the film's first official poster. "Guardians of the Galaxy" premieres on Aug. 1, 2014.

Watch the character introductions here:

Reach Staff Reporter Jennifer Kuan here; follow her here.