Comic book aficionados might feel like they’re seeing the same group of characters turn up in every superhero movie lately: the much-anticipated Batman film The Dark Knight Rises and a reboot of the Spiderman series, The Amazing Spiderman, both come out this month, and Marvel Studios has FOUR sequels coming down the pipeline (Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, and The Avengers 2). But for anybody who finds that monotonous, don’t worry: Marvel also has plans to bring in a new, weirder cast of characters for an upcoming film project.

Entertainment Weekly reports that Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has discussed plans to make a movie using the Guardians of the Galaxy, a superhero team from outer space. Feige said last year, “There is an opportunity to do a big space epic, which Thor sort of hints at in the cosmic side of the universe, with characters in a property called Guardians of the Galaxy,” and an official announcement is expected at Comic-Con in a few weeks.

I like comics well enough, as well as the movies that emanate therefrom, but, only having a fairly cursory knowledge of the most famous characters, I wasn’t aware of the Guardians until now, and more’s the pity, because they are kind of excellent and completely bonkers. Batman and Captain America are all well and good, but there’s something about the freedom of working with alien characters that allowed their creators to let their imaginations run wild. Some of the nuttiest ones are below, along with some casting ideas, but it’ll be a long time yet before you see the characters on the big screen—at least after Captain America 2 comes out in April 2014.