Director James Gunn's cinematic take on Marvel Comics' "Guardians of the Galaxy" lands August 1, 2014 and the search has begun to cast the lead role of Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, the leader of the Marvel Cosmic team. Deadline reports Marvel Studios has put together a short list of actors to test for the role that includes "Zero Dark Thirty" actor Joel Edgerton, "Boardwalk Empire's" Jack Huston, "Cloud Atlas'" Jim Sturgess, "The Hobbit" and "Pushing Daises" actor Lee Pace and Eddie Redmayne, who plays Marius in the film adaptation of "Les Miserables."
While those are the only names on the list, Deadline also heard rumors of interest from or in actors Garrett Hedlund, James Marsden and Sullivan Stapleton.
Created by Steve Englehart, Peter Quill first appeared in 1976 and played a major role in Marvel's crossover event "Annihilation" in 2006 and "Annihilation: Conquest" in 2007 before receiving the primary role in Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's "Guardians of the Galaxy" ongoing series in 2008. While Quill has a human appearance, only his mother was human -- his father was an alien. A master strategist and expert in close-quarters combat, Peter Quill's signature weapons became two Kree submachine guns under the hand of Abnett and Lanning during "Guardians of the Galaxy."
Officially announced in July at Comic-Con International, Guardians of the Galaxy is reportedly "about a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict and goes on the run with futuristic ex-cons who have something everyone wants." Although the Guardians have boasted a large and changing roster over the past four decades, in addition to Star-Lord, the concept art Marvel debuted at CCI 2012 features Drax the Destroyer, the human resurrected in the body of an alien to combat Thanos; Groot, the extraterrestrial tree monster; Rocket Raccoon, the fearless genetically altered raccoon; and Gamora, the most dangerous woman in the universe.
.
