Guardians of the Galaxy Extended Preview: Assembling the Guardians Features First Official Look at Yondu

The first official look at The Walking Dead's Michael Rooker's Yondu has been released online as part of the build-up to next month's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Recently, a piece of concept art was leaked that was the first time anything semi-official had come out in public showing off the character, who looks significantly different than his comic book counterpart. An official unveiling was considered more or less inevitable today, with a 17-minute sneak peek of the film hitting U.S. cinemas for a special screening at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

It's included in a Fandango-exclusive featurette/extended clip from the film titled "Assembling the Guardians," which you can see embedded below:

In the far reaches of space, an American pilot named Peter Quill finds himself the object of a manhunt after stealing an orb coveted by the villainous Ronan.

Advance tickets for "Guardians of the Galaxy" are available on Fandango now, in anticipation of the film's August 1 opening.

"Movie fans having post-holiday weekend blues will get extra fireworks with this new 'Guardians' material," says Fandango Fangirl Tiffany Smith. "We get our first extended intro to Groot, with Vin Diesel's voice uttering the classic 'I am Groot' line, and Bradley Cooper bringing to life Rocket. The music, including The Runaways' 'Cherry Bomb', gives us a cool retro vibe."

To celebrate the upcoming debut of the action adventure film, Fandango is also launching a sweepstakes where fans can take home actual props used in two of Marvel Studios' biggest movies.  Prizes include Captain America's Stunt "Stealth Shield," used in the action sequences from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and the "S.H.I.E.L.D." license plate from "The Avengers."  

The sweepstakes runs July 7 through August 4, 2014 and there are two ways to enter.   Moviegoers may receive an automatic entry by purchasing a "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie ticket or tickets at www.fandango.com or via Fandango's apps.  Fans can also enter without purchasing a movie ticket by sending an email with the subject line "Fandango's Guardians of the Galaxy Sweepstakes" tomarketing@fandango.com, with the entrant's name, email address, state of residence, and date of birth.  Entrants must be at least eighteen years of age.  The full sweepstakes rules are available at www.fandango.com/guardians.