James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy has been abuzz with casting news and rumours in recent months, and it’s been awesome to see such a diverse range of names in the mix for the various leading roles.
Chris Pratt was the first to officially come on board, signing on for the lead of Peter Quill / Star-Lord, the offspring of an alien father and a human mother.
Since then, we’ve heard that Zoe Saldana is circling the role of Gamora; Dave Bautista is set to play Drax; Michael Rooker is set to play Yondu; and Lee Pace and Ophelia Lovibond are set for as-yet-unknown roles.
Word now comes via HitFix that the studio have offered a role to John C. Reilly, with the part likened to that of Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson in Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The character is thought to be that of Rhomann Dey, and is expected to be different in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy in contrast with is comic book counterpart. The report has him designed as the Agent Coulson of the Guardians films, and he’ll be the human agent serving as a go-between for the Guardians and S.H.I.E.L.D.
He’s also expected to be the ‘primary face of normal humanity’ for the films, which sounds like a potential scene-stealing and fan-favourite role for Reilly to take on, should he accept the offer, given the brilliance of Gregg’s Coulson in the first Phase.
Dey is set to have a peer, who will act as his liaison for the Guardians, and the studio is reportedly looking at names as wide-ranging as Hugh Laurie, Alan Rickman, and Ken Watanabe for the part.
I love Reilly in everything I’ve seen him in over the years, and think he’d make a great addition to the already-awesome cast. Big-budget blockbusters are not something we get to see him take on very often – the only recent example is his voice work in Wreck-It Ralph – and it would be a brilliant change of pace to see him take on a role that could well become pivotal for whatever Marvel have in store for us beyond Phase Two.
Gunn is set to direct from a script originally penned by Nicole Perlman and Chris McCoy, doing a rewrite on the script himself after signing on to direct. And it looks like Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely will be doing the final polish before production this year.
Guardians of the Galaxy is set to be released on August 1st, 2014, and will leading directly (in terms of Phase Two’s release dates, at least) into Joss Whedon’s The Avengers 2.
