Guardians Of The Galaxy 2: 12 New Details James Gunn Just Revealed
7. He Had To Fight For Rooker, Bautista And Pratt
So, Howard the Duck wasn't a problem, but according to the director, he had to fight for Michael Rooker, Dave Bautista and - to a lesser extent Chris Pratt - to be cast in the first Guardians. Looking back - and with each of their performances in mind, that seems preposterous now.
Bautista is not too surprising, given his comparative lack of acting credits before the film, but Rooker had been in his two previous films and he's something of a Gunn "go-to guy". Apparently Marvel didn't quite see it that way:
Even Pratt wasn't a nailed on option to begin with, even if his wasn't so much of a fierce fight. Names like Glenn Howerton, Garrett Hedlund, John Krasinski, Aaron Paul, Eddie Redmayne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were all linked, but ultimately it was he who was cast.
It feels very much like this was Gunn's cast (especially as he insists he didn't hire anyone he didn't want), and if that's the case, he needs to start his own casting agency. Because there's not one of them weren't perfectly cast (including the much maligned Lee Pace as Ronan).