James Gunn and his crew have been hard at work on the upcoming Marvel Phase Two film ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ across the pond in London for about a month now give or take. Before they really got under way, the director made a quick stop at Hall H for San Diego Comic-Con along with his cast, thus confirming a number of rumors that we had previously heard about who will be playing what in the movie. However, two important members of the team were missing: Groot and Rocket Raccoon. Recently, we’ve been lead to believe that Vin Diesel is taking the role of the giant walking tree, but there was still no solid word on the gun-toting mammal. Well, now we’ve finally gotten some headway on who will be voicing the character.
Previously, when Gunn was asked about Rocket, he mentioned that the character plays a pivotal role the story and is the “heart of the movie”. However, he made no mention of any actors potentially stepping into the part. Rumors began to circulate about Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, and David Tennant possibly joining the cast, and I kept declaring that Danny DeVito would be the perfect choice, but it appears that they’ve gone in a completely different direction from the former Doctor and the veteran comedians.
According to Latino Review, Academy Award nominee and People Magazine’s 2011 “Sexiest Man Alive” Bradley Cooper has been offered the role of Rocket Raccoon. Take note that it says nothing about the actor accepting the part just yet. But if he does, he’ll be reunited with Zoe Saldana, who was his co-star in last year’s ‘The Words’. It’ll also be new territory for Cooper as he’s never done voiceover work like this before.
Surely Cooper has come up in conversations about superhero movies before, but this definitely isn’t the one that anyone would have associated with him. If he does accept Marvel’s offer, then he’d have to make some room in his busy schedule as he has films with Susanne Bier, David O. Russell, and Cameron Crowe on the list, as well as Steven Spielberg’s ‘American Sniper’, which he is also producing. There have also been rumors of a sequel to ‘Wet Hot American Summer’, which many of the fans of the first movie would definitely want to see.
While he may not be my pick for Rocket Raccoon, Bradley Cooper certainly is an interesting choice. Since there have been a few different versions of the character over the years, I’m curious to see how Gunn envisions him in his movie. But while we wait for Cooper’s answer, do you think that he’s be a good choice for the Guardians’ gnarly little member? Let us know in the comments below.
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Lee Pace, Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, Karen Gillan, Benicio Del Toro, and Michael Rooker blasts off on August 1st, 2014.
