SEE IT: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' first still released by Marvel - New York Daily News

As one final gift to fans in 2013, Marvel Studios released the first still from its upcoming film, "Guardians of the Galaxy," on New Year's Eve.

And the image from the intergalactic superhero film has something for every species — including the first real look at all-CGI characters, Rocket Raccoon and the living tree named Groot, respectively voiced by Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.

RELATED: ZOE SALDANA IS SALT OF THE EARTH IN 'OUT OF THE FURNACE'

Marvel Studios also released a synopsis for the 99.9 percent of the movie going public that may not have read the original comic series.

Vin Diesel via Facebook

Vin Diesel, who voices the part of Groot, caused a lot of speculation when he attended a not-so-secret meeting at the Marvel offices in July.

"Marvel, the studio that brought you the global blockbuster franchises of Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and The Avengers, comes a new team-the Guardians of the Galaxy. An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

RELATED: MARVEL PRODUCTION HEAD TALKS STUDIO'S FUTURE PLANS

"To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits — Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora, and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Peter discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand — with the galaxy's fate in the balance. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is presented by Marvel Studios. The film releases August 1, 2014, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures."

Marvel has high hopes for "Guardians of the Galaxy," which is based on superheroes who first appeared in comic books in the 1960s. The film, starring Chris Pratt (Peter Quill) and Zoe Saldana (Gamora) is being billed by insiders as a "Star Wars"-scale epic, and would give the studio a second potential team franchise to go along with "The Avengers."

Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images

Bradley Cooper will be voicing the part of Rocket Raccoon, the comic relief of the superhero team.

RELATED: EVANGELINE LILLY: 'HOBBIT' ROLE TEMPTED ME BACK INTO SPOTLIGHT

" 'Iron Man' was a challenge the first time around, people take it for granted now, but all sort of journalists were saying Marvel's really scraping the bottom of the barrel," Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige told the News in October. "Spider-Man is already out there, X-Men is out there, who's Iron Man ... So I'm very comfortable being back in the position of trying to exceed expectations."

But unlike "The Avengers," the James Gunn-directed space opera doesn't boast a roster of characters who are immediately recognizable to mainstream ticket buyers.

So the studio has hedged its bets with an impressive cast that also includes Benicio Del Toro, Glenn Close and British actress Karen Gillan, a fan favorite from "Doctor Who."