It’s Bert Macklin: Astro-warrior! For those scratching their head at the reference, find some way to watch ace US sitcom Parks And Recreation right now. We use it because one of Parks’ leading men – actor Chris Pratt – is making a deal to play Star-Lord in Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy.
According to Deadline, Pratt (assuming he signs) will embody the character who goes by the human name Peter Quill. A former astronaut, he’s the son of a human and an alien recruited to join the Guardians, and helps put together the current team.
Marvel has been looking for someone to fill Quill’s spacesuit for a while now, testing the likes of Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Jim Sturgess, Lee Pace , Zachary Levi (currently in Thor: The Dark World) and Eddie Redmayne. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was also targeted, but he’s busy.
Pratt, who was last seen on the big screen as a Navy SEAL in Z****ero Dark Thirty, is director James Gunn’s choice for the job, and what a solid choice it is, too. Pratt has proven himself able to blend comedy and drama, and will be a likeable focus in what will surely be a tougher sell than, say, The Avengers. After all, Guardians** features a talking, tooled-up humanoid raccoon…
This other group of comic book heroes first hit pages in 1969, but graduated to their own series in the ‘90s. While no other details have been confirmed, it seems likely that the team will take on Thanos (as seen in the closing credits of Avengers.)
**Guardians Of The Galaxy **is currently set for an August 2014 release.