After a long casting process that seemingly included every young male actor from Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Jim Sturgess, we can all breath a collective sigh of relief, as Marvel has finally found their next superhero lead. According to Deadline, the role of hero Peter Quill aka Starlord in James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy has gone to Chris Pratt.
One of the few human, non-CGI characters in the film, Pratt will play an astronaut whose ascendancy into space turns him into a galactic warrior. The Parks & Recreations star has recently been featured in a number of high-profile dramas, including Zero Dark Thirty and Moneyball, and it brings us great joy that his talents will be see on a worldwide playing field with this major tentpole.
With voice casting for Quill’s space warrior companions (Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora and Groot), yet to be determined (although Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey are reportedly circling), there’s still much more to be decided regarding this project, but at least they’ve found their star — and an excellent choice, at that.
Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters on August 1st, 2014.