James Gunn hopeful ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is only the beginning

(CBR) Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon and the rest of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” are only the beginning. Director James Gunn certainly hopes so, at least, telling Fandango he wants to see his upcoming space adventure pave the way for a greater Marvel Cosmic Cinematic Universe.

“I want to lay down the rules, I want to start it – I would love to be able to see it grow into other things,” he said. “I love talking about all the other filmmakers, sitting around with the producer pitching ideas for other filmmakers to take on future Marvel projects. It”s a great thing to be a part of. And I don”t think it”s for everybody, but the truth is for me being able to sort of create this movie is a dream come true and just been a great experience.”

For Gunn, the success of “Guardians” hinges on its unique casting choices, beginning with Chris Pratt as Star-Lord.

“I was not willing to settle for second best,” he said. “We auditioned many, many actors, and a lot of big actors who came in and tried to get the role of Peter Quill, and we tested over two dozen people. And none of them were right. It just didn”t feel right in my gut, and I always follow my gut. And Chris came in. He was pretty heavy at the time, and he read. But within about 30 seconds of him reading, I looked back at the casting director and I was like, ‘What the–? This is the greatest thing ever!” I mean, I knew he was it.”

“Guardians of the Galaxy” opens Aug. 1, 2014.

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