Chris Pratt Lands GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lead
 

Chris Pratt Lands GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lead

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.

Is this a real thing?

Very real.

Hmm, never heard of this. Sounds like a chinese knock off version of other super heroes~

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Is this the writer/director who was married to Jenna Fischer?

This dude is HILARIOUS in Parks and Rec. I must really need to see Zero Dark Thirty though; nothing from him in P&R would let me know he'd do well in a serious role.

He's married to Anna Faris

The Guardians made a recent appearance in the comic book "Avengers Assemble" where the Avengers fought Thanos in deep space. They are not widely known but are interesting characters. They are almost like Marvel's version of the Green Lanterns, as they are protectors of the universe.

They were also in an episode of "The Avengers" cartoon last year. I don't know a lot about them outside of that, but the talking tree and cockney raccoon were funny. It'll be interesting to see how Marvel tries to pull them off in live action.

This is why I used the past tense form of "to be." Was.

The popularity of Lord of the Rings might help with the walking/talking tree, but damn, selling people on a Space Raccoon as anything other than cheesy is going to be tough.

Rocket Raccoon rules.

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Especially when you consider that Adam Sandler has been rumored to voice it...

Wow, just wow...

Jenna Fischer was never married to Chris Pratt.