Last month, it was revealed that Marvel and director James Gunn had started testing actors for Guardian Of The Galaxy, with Joel Edgerton, Jim Sturgess, Jack Huston, Lee Pace, and Eddie Redmayne signing deals to try out for the role of Peter Quill.
Now Variety reports that only one of those actors, Jim Sturgess, is still in the running, with Chuck star Zachary Levi emerging as another top contender.
Zachary Levi’s inclusion is pretty unexpected as he took over the role of Fandral in Thor: The Dark World after Joshua Dallas was forced to bow out because of his commitment to the ABC series Once Upon a Time. If he takes the lead in Guardians Of The Galaxy, it would suggest this film won’t be part of the Marvel Universe continuity the company has been building up (although they may think Fandral is a tangential enough character that it won’t matter if Levi is in Thor and then moves to Guardians).
The characters of Peter Quill was born as the son of a human mother and an alien father, who becomes an astronaut for NASA. After learning who his father was, he goes off into space where he transforms himself into the Star-Lord, an interplanetary policeman who serves as the Guardians of the Galaxy’s leader.
It isn’t known when filming on the movie will begin.