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Lee Pace, Joel Edgerton & More Testing for 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

by Ethan Anderton
November 28, 2012

Since director James Gunn (Slither, Super) has been lined up to direct Marvel's cosmic superhero ensemble Guardians of the Galaxy, we've been waiting to get some updates on the talent in front of the camera. The film won't arrive until August 2014, so there's plenty of time to get a cast in order, and now Deadline has a shortlist of stars in the running to play Peter Quill, the astronaut who becomes the guardian known as Star-Lord. Marvel is making test deals for actors Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Jack Huston ("Boardwalk Empire"), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Lee Pace (Lincoln) and Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables) too.

In addition, names like Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy) and Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) are either interested or have the studio circling them. Finally, James Marsden (Cyclops from X-Men) has also been mentioned, which would put him in the small club of actors along with Chris Evans to take on two Marvel characters. It's not surprising that so many names are being considered for just this one role, but if one of these guys doesn't work out for Star-Lord, then they might still fit for Groot or Drax the Destroyer (though the latter probably needs a beefier star than any of the actors lined up for Quill).

For those who are not aware, as a child Peter Quill's father died trying to kill him and his mother was killed by an alien. It's no wonder he grew up to be an astronaut. But while on a space station, Quill is visited by Master of the Sun and gets transformed into Star-Lord, who is tasked with policing the galaxy. His suit allows him to travel through space, increase his strength and he has a powerful weapon called an element gun which fires earth, water, fire and air. In the concept art release at Comic-Con, he's carrying Kree sub-machine guns (from the alien race that created his suit), which shoot various types of ammunition, including explosives. He also has a psychic link to a sentient spaceship aptly called Ship.

Frankly, we're just happy that casting is finally underway for Guardians of the Galaxy. It might not be under as much scrutiny as the other Marvel properties that are part of The Avengers, but since this new ensemble is part of Phase Two of Marvel's cinematic universe, it will certainly come into play and tie-in to those films soon enough. It sounds like there's plenty of Guardians of the Galaxy news coming down the road so stay tuned. Any casting suggestions?

Filed under Casting, Development, Marvel, Movie News

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