MCU: 10 Actors Who Redefined Their Characters
8. Chris Pratt (Star-Lord)
Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, first appeared in Marvel Preview #4 in 1976, and for close to the following four decades, nobody gave a rat's behind about him. Probably because he was just a generic space hero for most of that time.
Thankfully, for Guardians of the Galaxy's debut film in 2014, they found one heck of a funny, charismatic actor to portray him. Chris Pratt, best known in the US for his portrayal of the lovable goofball Andy Dwyer on NBC's Parks and Recreation, brought the same brand of fratboy amiability and pop culture savviness that made him so popular to begin with.
Indeed, the sitcom surrogate family vibe of the Guardians can be traced back to Pratt, who mixes goofball wisecracks with genuine sentimentality so well. He's a beefcake, a very human one. Whereas the Star-Lord of the past was a generic self-insert of the '70s, Peter Quill is a millennial self-insert who everyone of today would want to be.
So while it did take a more-or-less complete retooling to make him work, Chris Pratt has turned Star-Lord into a permanent Marvel institution.