Chris Pratt is currently doing the rounds to promote his new sci-fi movie, Mercy, and recently sat down with Josh Horowitz to discuss that and various other topics.
Beyond Jurassic World and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the actor's biggest franchise has to be Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy. He's played Star-Lord across that trilogy, a Christmas-themed "Special Presentation," and even a couple of Avengers movies.
What's next for him in the MCU isn't clear, though leaked concept art has pointed to Pratt being lined up for roles in VisionQuest, Avengers: Doomsday, and Avengers: Secret Wars. Time will tell on that front, but the studio has promised fans that "The Legendary Star-Lord Will Return."
The news that Pratt would play Peter Quill was met with surprise by many in 2013. At the time, he was best known for Parks and Recreation, and while he'd slimmed down for Zero Dark Thirty, the actor explains that he'd "gotten up to 300 pounds" for Delivery Man with Vince Vaughn when Guardians of the Galaxy first came his way.
"I had a meeting with Kevin Feige, and he basically was just trying to see if I could get in shape," he recalled. "I was 285 pounds...I was on my way back down a little bit. Kevin Feige pulled out this picture of me in my underwear from when I had posted on Ellen—from being in shape for Zero Dark Thirty—and he was like, 'Can you do that again?' I said, 'Yes, how long do I have?'"
"He said, 'Six months, seven months.' I was like, 'Dude, I'll kick that guy's ass in seven months.' Then on the way home, they called me: 'It's yours.' I was like, 'You've got to be kidding me.'"
What you might not realise is that Star-Lord wasn't the first time Pratt had auditioned for a superhero movie. He had unsuccessful auditions for Captain America, a member of The Warriors Three in Thor, and even submitted a tape for Superman in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.
Reflecting on the latter, he said, "I remember I made a tape—I was at my mom's house in Everett, Washington, and sent it in. I even watched it and was like, 'Dude, I would not cast that guy as Superman.'"
He may have missed out on a DC role then, but with James Gunn now in charge of DC Studios, much has been said about Pratt potentially playing characters like Booster Gold or Batman.
"I sent [James] a picture of myself with a Batman mask on. It was actually Photoshopped. He just said, 'Haha.' So, it's safe to say I'm not going to be Batman," Pratt explained before admitting that he's not a good fit for the Dark Knight. "I don't know how to do it anyway. There have been so many Batmans. What do you do? You know what? I don't want to do it anyway. It was never an option. And I don't think I would be right for that."
Most fans would likely agree with him there, but Pratt's superhero journey in the MCU as Star-Lord is far from over.
Sharing his belief that Gunn made the right decision not to bring Peter and Gamora back together at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because "there's more opportunity to explore Peter Quill because that's a trauma in his life that didn't end happily," he said the character is now "in a real position to define himself. He doesn't have the obligations of a family, a wife, and all that stuff.
Pushed on whether he's aware of what comes next for him as Star-Lord, Pratt replied, "Yes and no. Everything is fluid at Marvel. They take things a step at a time. I'm happy to do anything they want, and I personally have a really strong vision of what I would want him to do. I think it's f***ing great. I've made my pitch. I'm down to contribute any way I can to setting up the next 10 years of storytelling."
Adding that it would be a "dream" for Gunn to come back to continue Peter's story, Pratt acknowledged that, "There are [other] amazing [directors] out there."
You can check out our interview with Pratt on Mercy in the player below.