The MCU is a juggernaut at the box office and is responsible for making certain Marvel heroes bigger than ever. Chris Pratt knows this better than anyone, as he became a movie star thanks to his turn as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy. Thanks to his success, Pratt has a massive net worth and certainly knows how to spend his money.

Casting a film is tricky, and the fans think that they can do it better than anyone out there. Well, how did the fans feel about Chris Pratt taking a stab at playing Star-Lord? Turns out, it wasn’t all roses!

Let’s take a look back at pre-Guardians MCU and see who people wanted to play Star-Lord!

The Tweet In Question

Chris Pratt has been stellar as Star-Lord in the MCU, and this is thanks to director James Gunn having an eye for talent. However, a tweet from Chris Pratt revealed that he was not on the hot list of actors to play the role.

Football star Russell Wilson took to Twitter to encourage people, posting several posts that pegged him as anything other than a budding NFL star. Of course, Wilson has gone on to be a Super Bowl winner and one of the most complete players in the game.

Chris Pratt, being the massive Seahawks fan that he is, retweeted the message and also gave some insight on how this applied to him.

Pratt would say, “Yes!!! YES!!! I’ll never forget the lists online, ‘which actor should play Starlord” and how my name wasn’t on any of them. Believe in yourself. Do the work. BELIEVE IT even more than you WANT IT.”

These are incredibly powerful words from Pratt, who has made the most of his MCU role. He was already doing well for himself on Parks and Recreation, but the role of Star-Lord certainly took things to another level.

If the fans had it their way, the role would have been completely different than what we wound up getting, and it makes sense that they aren’t in the casting business.

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Who The Fans Wanted

Now, most movie fans are totally guilty of dream casting roles in their heads long before something is officially announced, and this is precisely what happened back when the role of Star-Lord was up for grabs.

Star-Lord is a character that needs to be balanced in terms of being funny and being brave in the moment, and finding someone that can do both in front of the camera is difficult. Some of the fan castings for the role were actually really good, but we have to wonder how the overall dynamic of the film would have changed if Chris Pratt did not get the role.

One fan was adamant that Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad fame should land the role, and he would have been a stark contrast from Pratt. Paul is a gifted performer, and most people know him as Jesse Pinkman, who could not be any more different from Peter Quill. This would have allowed Paul to flex his chops a bit and truly blow people away.

Interestingly, James Gunn wound up having to defend his choice of actor on social media, as plenty of fans voiced their displeasure about Chris Pratt’s casting. This could have served as massive motivation for Pratt, who has become one of the biggest names in the MCU to date.

Thankfully, the folks behind the scenes got everything right when putting together the pieces for the film, and if the fans had it their way, the first Guardians film might not have turned out to be such a massive hit.

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The Studio Tried Casting Other People

Despite eventually landing the role, Chris Pratt was not the only actor in consideration for the role of Star-Lord. Turns out, there were a few notable performers that got quite close to landing the role of a lifetime.

According to Looper, hilarious performer, Glenn Howerton was in serious consideration for the role. Howerton, of course, is known for his time on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and he can bring the laughs when the cameras are rolling. Now, we feel that he could have been an exceptional lead in the Guardians films, but Pratt was right on the money.

In an interview with EW, James Gunn would say, “There was a good chance that, if I didn't cast Chris, that I would've cast Glenn Howerton in the role.”

Looper also reports that John Krasinksi was in the running for the role of Star-Lord. It’s interesting to see this, because many fans have been vocal about Krasinski eventually landing the role of Reed Richards in the MCU. Hopefully, we will get the chance to see Pratt and Krasinksi in the MCU together!

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It’s amazing that Chris Pratt still has a chip on his shoulder from when people doubted him a number of years ago. It’s exactly what Star-Lord would do if anyone in the MCU ever doubted him. Turns out, Pratt was born for the role.

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