"We’re not making this to make Marvel’s Star Wars. We’re doing this to explore the other side of the existing Marvel Universe. The fact that Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is a human from our time, that he carries a personal cassette recorder with him, already it’s very different. It’s not a long, time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it’s now in a galaxy far, far away."
As for being set now, Feige has also confirmed that the events of Guardians of the Galaxy will run concurrently with Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier: "The general answer is yes. It’s not exactly revealed what year or month it is in relation to the other Phase Two films. But yes, it’s the same time." And to connect things to the MCU, we'll also be seeing more of of a certain Titan who popped up briefly during the end credits of The Avengers: "We’ve already said that Thanos plays a part in it and is a character in it. That in and of itself should tell you it’s connected to the other worlds. Ronan The Accuser (Lee Pace) is very much the main bad guy. And Thanos is lurking above it all. You will learn more about Thanos in Guardians, for sure. Certainly you’ll get more than the one turn-around-and-smirk. You’ll get much more than that."
Guardians of the Galaxy is set for release on August 1st, 2014, with James Gunn (Super) directing a cast that also includes Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora, Dave Bautista (Riddick) as Drax the Destroyer, Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) as Yondu, Benicio Del Toro (Sin City) as The Collector, Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) as Nebula, John C. Reilly (Step Brothers) as Rhomman Dey, Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond) as Korath the Pursuer, and Glenn Close (Damages) as the leader of the Nova Corps, while Vin Diesel (Riddick) and Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) are said to be favourites to voice Groot and Rocket Raccoon.