Marking the first film in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy has been taking shape brilliantly in recent weeks.
Chris Pratt was the first one to come on board, taking the lead of the Guardians as Star-Lord / Peter Quill.
And since then, we’ve heard that Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, and Michael Rooker have all been linked the project.
Gunn himself came clean to us about the rumours surrounding the film recently at the UK premiere for Marvel and Shane Black’s Iron Man 3. And now we’ve got two more pieces of casting news to add to the list, with THR reporting that Ophelia Lovibond has signed on for a supporting role in the blockbuster. And alongside that, The Wrap reports that Lee Pace is in final talks for the role of the villain.
Both Lovibond and Pace’s roles are currently being kept under wraps, which is just how we like it.
Gunn will be directing from a script by Nicole Perlman and Chris McCoy, with Gunn himself doing a rewrite after coming on board.
Here’s to hoping that Guardians of the Galaxy will hold an Alexis Denisof-like secret that will remain under wraps until the film actually hits the big screen.
Interestingly, Pace (The Hobbit) was amongst the number of actors reported to have been reading for the leading role of Peter Quill / Star-Lord, which was ultimately won (and, according to Gunn, by a long shot) by Chris Pratt. But it looks like Gunn and the studio must have liked what they saw in Pace, keeping him in mind when it came to casting for the villain.
The film will fall directly after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which in turn follows Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3 in Phase Two’s line-up. And Guardians will be coming directly before The Avengers 2, which will be closing off the second phase with what promises to be an epic blockbuster event, the immense scale of which remains currently unfathomable. Needless to say, the entire phase is going to be awesome.
Guardians of the Galaxy is set to be released on August 1st, 2014. With any luck, we’ll have a little more casting news to bring you soon.
