Marvel just announced that Chris Pratt of Parks and Recreation and Zero Dark Thirty fame has won the role of Peter Quill, the astronaut who becomes the intergalactic superhero Starlord, in the James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy movie. This is weird. It's not bad, necessarily, and it's possibly quite good, but it's definitely very, very weird. Pratt's had a few serious roles here and there, but he's best-known for his comedy skills. Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy has plenty of humor, but I don't think Marvel fans would classify it as a comedy.
It seems unlikely Marvel would hire Pratt to lead a movie where his role was purely dramatic (or as dramatic as a movie with a talking space-raccoon can be). It's by no means impossible — but there are plenty of other Hollywood actors that could have fulfilled that role (and Marvel reportedly looked at all of 'em). So does that mean GotG might be Marvel's first outright superhero comedy? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, Marvel's got a pretty solid track record with casting so far, so I'm inclined to give Marvel and Pratt the benefit of the doubt. Sure is weird, though.
[Via First Showing]