Movies like Suicide Squad have taken noticeable cues from Guardians of the Galaxy’s irreverence, and there’s a case to be made that the original Guardians served as proof of concept that an action-comedy hybrid like Deadpool could ultimately work.
The entire Guardians of the Galaxy franchise has easily become one of Marvel Studios’ biggest assets over the course of the last few years.
Nobody initially expected the obscure source material to become as successful and influential as it has, but the stylistic choices made in the original Guardians have gone on to influence the future of the genre as a whole.