With the stinger in the Avengers credits you’ve assuredly all seen by now as well as certain rumors, I think everybody here assumes that the next announced franchise for the Marvel Cineverse will be that of the Guardians of the Galaxy. A fan-favorite group and one that Kevin Feige has openly admitted to enjoying and wanting to bring to the screen, they’re a perfect segue for the Marvel Universe and any and all cosmic things they might want to do (again, the Avengers stinger being a pretty big indication).
So what better way to celebrate the return of the Casting Couch column than to cast Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel Studios?
Let’s have at it then:
Director – Duncan Jones
If Marvel Studios has shown off one thing with their films, it’s that they want directors who can really understand the feeling of a franchise to direct their movies. Kenneth Branagh on Thor? Jon Favreau on Iron Man? Those themselves were pretty inspired picks in terms of the director being able to capitalize on a specific facet of the character, bringing it to screen in full force. And Whedon on Avengers? Uh-doy.
With that in mind, if we’re hoping to create a science fiction film that is nuanced and much greater than a just a cosmic version of The Avengers, we want a director who can deliver powerful sci-fi films. That man is Duncan Jones, who has proven he can direct great sci-fi that he writes (Moon) and that others write (Source Code). Throw him on Guardians, give him a bigger budget and watch the magic happen.
Star-Lord – Eion Bailey
Casting the leader of the Guardians was a weighty decision, but all things considered we felt it was better to go with an actor who is more unknown that we know has the acting chops to do it as opposed to sticking someone with a big name already into the role. The role of Star-Lord has the potential to be a break-out role after all, and after several years of playing smaller roles in anything from Buffy to Fight Club to Band of Brothers, Eion Bailey recently had two larger roles in Covert Affairs and Once Upon A Time, with Once being enough to prove to us that Eion is likable and charismatic enough to lead a band of space misfits against all sorts of threats.
Quasar – Rooney Mara
For the role of Quasar and all that she eventually becomes, we need an actress who can walk the line between dark and light. We need an actress who can be the dark heroine the fabric of the universe needs while still being a relatable and likable character.
Formerly known as “that girl” in Social Network and more recently known as Lisbeth Salander in the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Mara has proven herself as not only a versatile actress who can nail both the dark anti-hero and the sweet heroine, but also an absolute bad ass. Clearly, given just these two roles under director David Fincher, Mara is a shoe-in for the role of Phyla-Vel and her infinite moral complexities.
Drax the Destroyer – Joel Edgerton
Drax is a difficult character to cast, because for all intents and purposes we need actor with immense physical prowess. Truth be told, some buffed up hunk could just be placed in the role as long as he doesn’t mind keeping his shirt off for the duration of the film. Yeah, we could do that — but with the importance of Drax as a character (you do all remember his purpose in life, right?), we need an actor who can actually play the role, not just be a nice body.
Did you see Warrior? Did you see Joel Edgerton rock the screen both with his shirt on as a fully fleshed out father/teacher straddling the line between doing what’s right for his family and right for himself and with his shirt off as a sheer furious flurry of fists and grunts? Yeah. He can play Drax allright.
Gamora – Saffron Burrows
Gamora is the darker portion of the team, the one who most straddles the line between villain and anti-heroine. She’s a force of nature in and of herself, with a deadly “professional” relationship with Nova (not part of our story here) and a stark position as the femme fatale of the group. For that role we are more than happy to cast the lovely and talented Saffron Burrows.
Rocket Raccoon – Bob Hoskins
Rocket Raccoon having a British voice probably surprised a few people when he popped up in Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes season 2. However, those who saw the Guardians pop up in A:EMH might have noticed that voice actor Greg Ellis was kinda sorta doing his best Bob Hoskins impersonation. Why not just get Bob Hoskins then?
Groot – John Rhys-Davies
Ok, fine — this is kind of cheating. Rhys-Davies, among other roles, played Treebeard in Lord of the Rings, and now we’re once again casting him as a talking tree. But hey, it works, right? Besides, all we really need is someone to say “I AM GROOT!” with various inflection. I’m sure Rhys-Davies can come into the studio for an afternoon.
Cosmo – Rade Serbedzija
Arguably the only character on this list least likely to make the actual film, Cosmo is my favorite character, and therefore he gets cost. Giving a new role for the actor who played Boris the Blade is just a bonus.
Adam Warlock/Magus – Michael Fassbender
We’ve saved the best for last, so to say, but with good reason. You may have noticed that we have chosen not to cast any sort of traditional villain but instead cast the dual role of Warlock and his evil incarnation Magus, both portrayed by Michael Fassbender.
The reason is fairly simple: if Marvel is going to use Adam Warlock in their films (and we can assume they probably will), they’ll assuredly want him for a greater role in the big scheme of things. Adam Warlock has always been a major cosmic player, and one way to create an interesting dichotomy and hopefully an intriguing twist to the Guardians movie would be to have their villain be a member of the team, since the Guardians spent most of their time a) fighting the Universal Church of Truth (who were under command of Magus) or b) involved with other affairs, like “Secret Invasion” and “War of Kings.”
Since we’re not seeing a movie version of the aforementioned events, then fine — you want the Universal Church? You need Magus. You want an actor who can play both a hero and a villain convincingly at the same time? You want Michael “Erik Lensherr” Fassbender. (If Chris Evans can play the Human Torch and Captain America, Fassbender can play Warlock and Magneto.)
