After countless shortlist stories and rumors concerning who would play Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the search for the lead role is finally over, and fittingly the actor is someone who never appeared on any of the aforementioned lists. Deadline reports that Chris Pratt has been tapped to play Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, a character who was born of a human mother and alien father, and is a master strategist and combat expert who wears an ability-enhancing suit and pilots a psychically-linked ship. As Guardians features a cast of strange and cosmic characters, Quill was an important role to fill because he will likely act as the audience’s introduction to the vast, unfamiliar Guardians world. Hit the jump for more.
There were plenty of actors rumored for the role that made a lot of sense (John Krasinski, Zachary Levi, etc.), and Deadline notes that Marvel made test deals with Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Lee Pace, and Eddie Redmayne, but Chris Pratt actually seems like a perfect fit. His comic timing is excellent as evidenced by his work on NBC’s Parks and Recreation, and he’s shown his talent on the dramatic side with Moneyball and 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty, for which he also proved that he can beef up for a role if need-be.
Looking back on the previous shortlists and taking Pratt into consideration, it’s clear that writer/director James Gunn is planning on injecting a good amount of humor into Guardians of the Galaxy. A rumor surfaced recently that Marvel was looking at possibly tapping Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler to do voice work in the film (one of the guardians is a talking raccoon), so I’m interested to see the tone that Gunn settles on for the finished film.
With the role of Star-Lord secure, Gunn and Marvel now look to filling out the rest of the cast, which includes the powerful Drax the Destroyer, a giant tree named Groot, the aforementioned Rocket Raccoon, and the female lead Gamora. The story is also rumored to involve the villain Thanos. Expect to hear more soon as production gears up to begin later this year. Guardians of the Galaxy will be released in 3D on August 1, 2014. [Reply]
Originally Posted by unlurking:
Shit, I'd rather see Reeves or Cage as Batman if we're talking shitty action actors. Absolutely no interest. I really just hate Aflac. (and yes, intentional misspelling)
Originally Posted by Bowser:
I first thought that this movie would be a risk for them. Guardians is a niche group in that universe. I thought they could have done a half dozen other movies on other characters/groups that would have been more familiar to the general public. That said, it looks entertaining, and I'm curious how they will tie these guys in with the Avengers and the soon to be rebooted Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer.
This movie will either do great or fizzle out quickly. It won't be somewhere in-between.
Wait, what? Marvel is getting the rights to fantastic 4 back? [Reply]
Originally Posted by scott free:
A laser gun wielding raccoon riding a tree monster, sorry... wont go see, wont rent... why not just have Abe Lincoln riding a polar bear shooting Stinger missiles?
Bowz, the question you put forth in post 81 is what really puzzles me... why do they keep trying to introduce these little known, never really hugely popular characters? that's what comic book movie success boils down to IMO.
Even relatively well known guys like Green Lantern and Daredevil flopped like fish out of water.
How popular was the character/characters to begin with, how long did that popularity last, how far did it cross over to non-traditional audiences? you could even carry that over into 70's tv shows that were made into movies... Land of the Lost, Bewitched, Speed Racer etc.
That's great and all, but they flopped because the parents who actually gave a damn about those shows were too old to drive the box office... kids are all that matters with these movies, now that I think about, this Gaurdians movie might be a huge hit, because the kids might love a badass raccoon.
But for me, I'd rather see 3 different takes on what I know is cool... 3 different Batmans, 3 different Supermans etc... each its own vision, each its own stand alone feature.
They needed a conduit to the galactic side of the marvel universe to make phase two of the Marvel story line possible.
With the Guardians having two members with direct ties to Thanos, they were the perfect choice.
Drax was created to kill Thanos.
Gamora is Thanos' adopted daughter.
The movie will feature The Collector, played by Benicio del Toro, who is holding The Aether. The weapon that was used in Thor 2. It is one of the infinity gems that Thanos collects and is who he takes it from in the comics.
Originally Posted by Bowser:
If you have some time to spare and are interested, look up Thanos. He's the bad guy, and then you'll see the scope of what Marvel is going for by introducing the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ronan the Accuser will most likely be the bad guy with the most screen time, but it looks like it will be Thanos pulling his strings behind the scenes, from what I have read. They won't want too much Thanos in Guardians or it would spoil the goodness that will be Avengers 3.
I don't think Ronan was in the trailer, unless it was him for a split second in one of the parts near the end. Nebula, a secondary villain, is in it a couple times. This trailer was more to introduce the Guardians, as most people have never heard of them. I imagine the next couple trailers will give more of a glimpse as to the plot of the movie. [Reply]
Originally Posted by scott free:
A laser gun wielding raccoon riding a tree monster, sorry... wont go see, wont rent... why not just have Abe Lincoln riding a polar bear shooting Stinger missiles?
Or a 7 foot tall intelligent orangutan, a gay robot, a whiney teen, and a 600 year old muppet who is psychokinetic?... [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Wait, what? Marvel is getting the rights to fantastic 4 back?
Yeah, that's my bad. Wishful thinking on my part (even though I have heard FF and Surfer are both getting reboots. Too bad Marvel doesn't control all of its property; these guys are a natural fit in the GoG story arc). [Reply]
Originally Posted by scott free:
I honestly haven't even watched a trailer, all I needed to see to dissuade me is a picture with a ****ing raccoon walking in the lead.
If you guys have fun with it, God bless... but this isn't for me.
All of this and yet you're ok with vampires that sparkle....huh.
Originally Posted by Bowser:
Yeah, that's my bad. Wishful thinking on my part (even though I have heard FF and Surfer are both getting reboots. Too bad Marvel doesn't control all of its property; these guys are a natural fit in the GoG story arc).
I thought they were re-booting FF as we speak because they'd lose the rights if they didn't... [Reply]
