10 Riskiest Superhero Movie Castings Which Paid Off

7. Chris Pratt - Star-Lord

Avengers Endgame Tony Stark
Marvel Studios

Casting the joker from Parks and Recreation as the lead in Guardians of the Galaxy was arguably the first example of utilising a gifted comedy actor in a superhero genre since Michael Keaton and certainly the first example of this in the 21st century.

Upon the announcement of this casting people appeared baffled more than anything, forgetting how great Keaton had been when given a chance to prove himself, leading to many questioning of whether Marvel had made a major misstep.

Even director James Gunn was originally unsure if Chris Pratt would be a good fit for Peter Quill and eventually with much reluctance agreed to see him audition for the role.

When Guardians of the Galaxy became the sleeper hit for Marvel much of its success was rightly attributed to writer/director James Gunn and its stellar cast. In particular, Pratt was often singled out for finding the comedy in what could have been a very bland character if potentially played by another actor.

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An avid cinephile, love Trainspotting (the film, not the hobby), like watching bad films ironically (The Room, Cats) and hate my over-reliance on brackets (they’re handy for a quick aside though).