Among the many notable absences during last spring’s Doomsday chair stream was Chris Pratt. In a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor said that he’d be happy to come back to the MCU as Star-Lord and has even made a pitch to Marvel. “I personally have a really strong vision of what I would want him to do,” Pratt said. “And I think it’s f***ing great.”
(L-R): Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios‘ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 MARVEL.
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But he added that he’s willing to be a team player in the process. “I’m down to contribute any way I can to them setting up the next 10 years of storytelling.”
Directing the Guardians On Screen and Off
Pratt made his MCU debut in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, radically transforming his physique to play Star-Lord. Since then, he has expanded from a primarily comedic actor into a full-fledged action star in the Jurassic World movie franchise, Prime Video’s series The Terminal List, and most recently the sci-fi thriller Mercy.
But after six appearances in the MCU—most recently 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3—he isn’t ready to hang up Peter Quill’s headphones. Horowitz asked Pratt if he had a definitive idea of how Marvel would use him going forward. Pratt paused before answering: “Yes and no.”
James Gunn and Chris Pratt attend the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood CA on Thursday, April 27, 2023.
(Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
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While Star-Lord could conceivably lead a new team after the events of Guardians Vol. 3, the bigger question is who would direct the movie. James Gunn, who wrote and directed the trilogy, is now the co-chairman and co-CEO of Marvel’s rival, DC Studios. “Obviously, James is busy,” Horowitz noted. “He’s not going to direct another Guardians movie, right?”
Pratt’s response may raise eyebrows. “Everything is all liquid, right? And they kind of take things a step at a time at Marvel,” he said, before quickly turning the conversation back on himself. “I’m happy to do anything they want me to do.” He later admitted that while Gunn’s returning to direct would be his dream scenario, it remains unlikely. “I’d have to think about like who would be the right director,” Pratt said. “There are amazing directors out there. I’m sure we’d find the right guy.”
Ultimately, any pitch for Star-Lord’s return will center around the character and his story.
The Next 10 Years
Guardians Vol. 3 ended with Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora making what Horowitz called a “clear exit.” Pratt agreed, suggesting that the sad ending to her relationship with Quill set up more story opportunities. “That’s a trauma he has in his life and it didn’t end happily. And so now he would be—wherever we should find him—he would be in a real position to try to define himself. He doesn’t have a life, he doesn’t have the obligations of a family and a wife and all that stuff.”
(L-R): Karen Gillan as Nebula, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Dave Bautista as Drax in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2023 MARVEL.
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Unlike other MCU stars not invited to join Doomsday, Pratt has seemingly remained on good terms with Disney. His return seems extremely probable—if not in Doomsday, then in Avengers: Secret Wars. Whatever pitch Pratt made to Marvel for Star-Lord’s next step in his journey will be informed by the events of those films, which is one reason why he couldn’t elaborate. But if Pratt has his way, fans may be in for another decade of him in the MCU.
Do you think Chris Pratt has a good pitch for Star-Lord’s return? Where do you think the character should go next? Sound off in the comments!
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Pratt, an actor I really like, is one of those actors who can’t quite carry a movie.
In Guardians 1 he wasn’t as interesting as fun Rocket (Who himself was nowhere near as funny in G2 and especially G3, when they made this depressing nonsense about animal abuse). In Guardians 3, I absolutley did not care if his character survived or not (ditto all the other characters, who had outstayed their welcome).
In the Dino movies, Pratt was kinda meh, especially compared to Sam Neill. I’ve not seen Electric State, or Mercy, but they bombed.
If you look at the Clint Eastwood movies, Clint had the charisma to make those movies classic.
Of course, these days, screenwriters are terrible, but, my main point is, Pratt lacks something, an Eastwood light, perhaps. Geat guy though.
This is even more true of Scarlet Johannsen. They make this woman out to be a star, but is she, really? Even when she was hot, circa 20 years ago, I don’t think she ever carried a movie by herself. Angelina Jolie and Mila Johovich were successful at holding low-to-mid budget movies. Scarlet never quite had that charisma. She was horrible in the latest dino movie, itself a woke, POS movie.
The founders of Hollywood knew the power of stars and starlets since the days of Chaplin and Greta Garbo.
Modern Hollywood has NO stars. It’s attempts at making new stars fail: Zegler is a joke. Daisy Ridley is a joke. And that Captain America guy also failed to be a “star”. Even Pervert Pascal was only a star becaues he lucked out in a cool scene in GoT, and, I’d say his star power was even worse than Pratt’s. Doubly so since he went around licking rainbow gay sticks.
I think RDJ was always overrated, too.
Since turn of the millennium, there haven’t been any iconic stars apart from Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Angelina. I don’t count Clooney, because he isn’t charismastic. Ditto that actress who became famous playing a hooker.