Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy will premiere on 26 September on Disney XD Marvel/Disney XD

Marvel has released the official trailer and announced the premiere date of Guardians of the Galaxy animated series.

Two trailers explaining the Star-Lord's origin story, starting from when Peter Quill was abducted by Yandu have been released. According to Marvel, while the animated series is not "strictly in continuity with the movies, they're obviously similar enough that they can fill in some origin story blanks".

Here is the official synopsis:

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy follows the newly-formed team who finds a strange artifact keyed only to the DNA of Peter Quill. Upon opening it, Quill unleashes a treasure map leading to a powerful weapon known as the Cosmic Seed which is capable of giving birth to the next universe. It's up to the Guardians to find, protect and ultimately destroy the Cosmic Seed in order to keep it out of the hands of those who would abuse its power, from galactic big boss Thanos, to the conniving brothers the Collector and the Grandmaster, to a resurrected Ronan, to the ultimate trickster, Loki, in order to save the universe.

The synopsis mentions Marvel's greatest villains, Thanos, Ronan and Thor's brother Loki, and looks like the guardians will have to face off with them to save the universe.

The one-hour premiere episode will take us back to Knowhere, where the galaxy's biggest misfits set out to uncover the secrets of Peter Quill aka Star-Lord's past. The team will also begin their quest to find the Cosmic Seed.

The guardians will be voiced by Will Friedle (Star-Lord), Vanessa Marshall (Gamora), Kevin Michael Richardson (Groot), Trevor Devall (Rocket) and David Sobolov as Drax the Destroyer. Returning familiar faces include Yondu, who will be voiced by James Arnold Taylor, and Nebula.

Meanwhile, senior vice president, programming and general manager of Disney XD Marc Buhaj said: "The movie and franchise quickly became a worldwide phenomenon. We're looking forward to working with the great team at Marvel Television to deliver an engaging animated series that fans can enjoy each week."

"This is a very exciting time for the Marvel Animation Studio as we get to explore the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe by developing the first-ever 'Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy' animated series," head of Marvel Television Jeph Loeb said. "After starring in the biggest movie of 2014, everyone wants more of Star-Lord and his crew – now they'll get it," Loeb added.

Marvel's animated Guardians of the Galaxy TV series will premiere on 16 September on Disney XD.