We have been getting a lot of updates on next summer’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY recently. The James Gunn directed space epic has already confirmed a pretty impressive cast of actors for Marvel’s first foray into the more cosmic side of their universe with Chris Pratt as Star Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Zoe Saldana as Gamora and Michael Rooker as Yondu. With filming starting later this summer in England, it is no surprise that we are getting more casting alerts.
First up, we heard over at The Hollywood Reporter that Ophelia Lovibond (NO STRINGS ATTACHED) has been cast as an aide to one of the Elders of the Universe, a being known as Taneleer Tivan, aka The Collector.
The Collector doesn’t really have many ties to the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, however, he does have strong ties to Thanos. You remember Thanos, right? The big purple guy that was shown in the mid-credits scene of last year’s THE AVENGER’S.
Yeah, that guy. In the comics, Thanos has posed a threat to the Elders so while his inclusion is not guaranteed for GOTG, it is easy to guess that his presence will be felt in the film nonetheless.
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Next up we have the casting of Lee Pace (THE HOBBIT: AND UNEXPECTED JOURNEY) who, according to The Wrap, is in final negotiations, has been cast as an unspecified villain in the film. Latino Review seems to believe that Basil Sandhurst aka The Controller, no, not the same person as the aforementioned The Collector, will play a part in the film. The Controller is a henchman of Thanos, yeah, that guy I just mentioned, so this MAY be the role that Lee Pace has been cast in. We still have a lot to discover.
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Continuing with the casting for unknown parts, we now come to John C. Reilly (WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY).
HitFix seems to believe that Mr. Reilly will be playing the part of Rhomann Dey, a high-ranking official in the Nova Corps (we are getting to them in a bit) who is described as an Agent Coulson type character in the Corps only unlike Coulson, he is also a leader in the Corps. The site believes that he will actually be in contact with S.H.I.E.L.D during the film. In the comics, Dey is famous for passing his power along to Richard Rider who is known as the superhero Nova on Earth.
The site also has a lot more speculation on the film and here are some of the high points:
– Rocket Raccoon is a guard at an intergalactic asylum for the criminally insane called The Keystone Quadrant
– Groot comes to Earth to experiment on humans, but the ever persuasive Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) talks him out of it
– Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista) will have a backstory similar to his comics where he is killed by Thanos, reincarnated by Kronos and have the ability to fly, shoot cosmic laser blasts and be freakishly strong
– Lee Pace will actually be playing either Richard Rider / Nova (this makes a lot of sense), Adam Warlock or Captain Marvel, not The Controller
– Gamora (Zoe Saldana) will be the adopted daughter of Thanos and will possess super strength, super speed and be deadly with a blade. She was raised by Thanos after he wiped out her entire race.
– Yondu (Michael Rooker) will be portrayed as a villain that is similar to a space pirate
Click on the link above and check out the article in full. If this is true and he is going to play Rhomann Dey then Mr. Reilly better be spending his time at the local health club getting in shape… Just sayin…
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Next up we have former Doctor Who companion Karen Gillan who has been cast in an unspecified role, but it is known, thanks to The Hollywood Reporter, that she will be playing the lead female villain. As we get confirmation of her actual role, we will let you know. Any guesses?
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How do you know that comic-book movies are becoming respectable to work in? I mean besides the fact that some of them in recent years have made over $1 billion at the global box office. It is when you start to see actors of extremely high caliber joining their ranks. Marvel has already shown that they can bring in extreme talent when they want with Oscar Winner Anthony Hopkins as Odin in THOR, Oscar Winner Robert Redford as Agent Alexander Pierce in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER, Oscar Winner Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in the IRON MAN trilogy and many more Oscar Nominated actors like Terrence Howard, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey, Jr., etc.
Now in what many are calling a very surprising move, Marvel and James Gunn have managed to land 6 time Oscar Nominee Glenn Close for the obscure comic adaptation and according to Deadline, she has signed on to play a leadership role in the aforementioned Nova Corps which is Marvel’s equivalent of the Green Lantern Corps. They are an intergalactic space patrol and if this casting is correct, it can be assumed that she will be playing the role of Nova Prime. If find this extremely interesting because as more and more casting comes out, we see the depths of the cosmic scale of this movie increase.
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Next we come to the one of the most recent casting announcements. Deadline has announced the Benecio del Toro has joined the impressive cast.
While the site does not go into detail about what role he will be playing, most likely because it hasn’t been announced, they do have some clues as to how he will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, at least in terms of future movies. They say that his is…
…a character that is built to be part of future Marvel films, which means he has signed a deal with options that put him into multiple movies.
While this could be any number of characters including Thanos himself (he was played by Damion Poitier in the mid-credits scene but Kevin Feige has already said that they would be willing to recast as Damion was originally just hired as a stand-in), some people are wondering if del Toro may actually be playing a high-ranking Kree by the name of Ronan the Accuser.
There have been several iterations of Ronan in the comics, but one that really stands out is his Ultimate version where he is the son of Thanos. I’m starting to see a lot of connections to Thanos here…
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Last but not least in the casting department, we come to Mr. Tromaville himself, Lloyd Kaufman.
Lloyd (THE TOXIC AVENGER and its many sequels), who has worked with James Gunn on several occasions including SLITER and SUPER, has told Crave Online that he will be working behind-the-scenes on the film with Gunn, but will also have a small part in the film.
“Yeah, he’s giving me a part. I’m going to be in his movie. I’m going to London at the end of June to play a small part. … We’ll see what happens. James is a good guy. I think it’ll be interesting just to see what it’s like and I’ll shoot some behind the scenes. I did it for Slither, I did it for Super. I did two pieces for Super.”
Check out the link above for his full interview.
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As a bonus, here’s a video clip of Zoe Saldana talking with Absolute Radio about her role in the film. In the clip she confirms that she will be painted green instead of utilizing motion-capture like she did with AVATAR.
So, I know that’s a lot of information to process, but what are your thoughts on everything? This really does seem to be an epic movie the likes we haven’t seen before, at least in the context of a comic-book movie. Marvel definitely has the opportunity to show DC how to do a space movie properly and considering that this movie looks to be including the Nova Corps which is essentially Marvel’s Green Lantern Corps., we can truly see what a movie of this nature can be. In Marvel I trust.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Ophelia Lovibond, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, Karen Gillan, John C. Reilly and Benicio Del Toro.
SYNOPSIS:
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” based on the Marvel comic books of the same name, features an unlikely cast of characters who must team up in order to defeat a cosmic force of epic proportions.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is set to hit 2D and 3D theaters on August 1, 2014.
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Jim is an avid movie enthusiast, representing the general movie going audience, looking at movies for their entertainment value as opposed to their critical weight. He enjoys the escapism that movies provide. He is a fan of all genre's of movies, but gravitates toward comic-based movies, summer "popcorn" flicks and over-the-top comedies as his preference. 
