Chris Pratt Leaving Seal Team Six, Joining the Guardians of the Galaxy

We’ve been running around casting rumors about Guardians of the Galaxy for over a month now, and while we have an idea of who may (or, of course, may not) be filling out secondary roles, no progress has been made in casting the film’s lead— until now. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s give a warm welcome and a round of applause to Chris Pratt, our new Star Lord.

Reading that sentence fills me with a sense of bemusement even more than the idea that Jim Carrey and/or Adam Sandler might be involved with a James Gunn-directed superhero picture. Andy Dwyer? Star Lord? If you asked Dwyer himself whether or not he’d want to play an astronaut who teams up with a diversity-rich group of space aliens to fight various forms of villainy, he’d probably have a meltdown. I’m sure Pratt’s no less thrilled, especially after getting to flex some muscle in Zero Dark Thirty (which I still haven’t seen, so I could be way overestimating his role there). And I’m not upset, either, because I like Pratt and I want to see him get more work. That’s generally how I roll when it comes to actors I favor.

But I can’t help but raise an eyebrow and smirk at the notion of a guy best-known for playing a big, lovable goofball on Parks and Recreation. That’ll change, I’m sure, once I’ve seen Zero Dark Thirty, or possibly Guardians of the Galaxy if I wait too much longer and miss the former while it’s still in theaters. The image of Pratt I keep in my head, of course, is entirely informed by my experiences with him as a supporting player on one of the best comedy shows of the day, but apparently that’s exactly what Marvel wants: someone with comedic sensibility. I have less than no experience with the comic book, so I’ll have to take this as at face value as a sign of source loyalty– maybe that’s just the tone the material’s supposed to be hitting, and maybe someone out there who does know Guardians can tell me all about it.

There’s also the matter of Gunn, who doesn’t take his work super-self-seriously; Super, as disturbingly violent as it gets, has a great sense of humor, and even Slither cracks jokes left and right. Pratt’s casting is at least consistent with the involvement of Gunn and the rumored casting of Carrey and Sandler. So I can’t take this as anything but good news.

I do wonder, however, if Marvel will be fitting his character into the alleged ending of Iron Man 3. Now I’m looking forward to May even more than I was on Sunday.

(Source: Badass Digest)