Chris Pratt Says The Guardians Play A Key Role In 'Avengers: Infinity War'
One of my biggest fears about Avengers: Infinity War is that the film might be too big for its own good. With so many moving parts in Marvel Studios' biggest movie yet, there's a real danger of many of the characters we love getting lost in the shuffle and ending up without much to do.
But when I spoke with actor Chris Pratt yesterday during the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 junket in West Hollywood, I asked him about Infinity War and his comments about the Guardians' involvement assuaged some of my fears.
The Conversation
My full interview with Pratt will be timed to Vol. 2's release in a couple of weeks, but I wanted to share this exchange that I thought would be of particular interest to Marvel fans looking forward to the Russo brothers' massive team-up movie. Here it is:
You've played Peter Quill twice in films written by James Gunn, but Infinity War is the first time you play him where you're not working from James's script. What's the difference between how James writes your character and how [Stephen] Markus and [Christopher] McFeely have written him?
The end result is exactly the same because no matter who's writing it, there's a process of making it authentic to myself that every bit of dialogue and action is going to have to go through. With James, it's innate. He writes dialogue that I would improv. And when I say 'improv,' I don't just mean 'joke.' I mean taking ownership of the role, colloquializing, making stuff my own. Making it mine. I always make it mine. Even when it's James's, and I'm saying exactly what he's written, I'm making it mine. So, at the end of the day, the result is exactly the same – it's just a slightly different way of getting there.
I just heard some news from this marketing guy who's seen some stuff cut together from Infinity War and he's over the fucking moon. He says our shit is – he's so pumped about it. We are not small parts, but we're supporting, and in that way, our job...
"We" being the Guardians?
Yeah, I mean the Guardians. The Guardians that are in the movie. We have great stuff that we're doing in it. It's really fun. It's very, very Guardians. It's our tone, it's our voices. And I felt like on the day, although it was the Russo brothers directing, James is executive producing. He and Kevin [Feige] are having a conversation, and there were zero egos involved, it felt like."
Was James on the set with you guys?
He wasn't there on the set, but his spirit was all over it. James and I have a shorthand when we're working together, and he has a similar relationship with every actor that he works with, and in a way, I felt like as Quill, I had a little bit more responsibility on set to take care of my Guardians while I was there. So in many ways, I was... [he trails off]
Sort of the voice behind the voice?
[Nodding] I was a little bit the voice. And I don't mean that in any [negative] way – the Russos are fucking awesome, and everyone there is collaborating to make the best thing we can. We had all hands on deck to just make it awesome.
What Could This Mean?
That certainly sounds like the Guardians will have a key role in the new movie, and that even though Gunn isn't involved on a script level, the film will retain the same tone fans know and love. Pratt's comments align with statements from fellow Guardian Dave Bautista, who hyped the team's unity and strength in Infinity War yesterday.
But did you catch the part when Pratt clarified that he meant "the Guardians who are in the movie" in one of his answers? Does that mean there are some Guardian team members who aren't in Infinity War? And if that's the case, would that mean those characters are sitting out the battle with Thanos altogether (maybe even because they don't survive long enough to get there?), or that they simply might not be showing up until the still-untitled Infinity War sequel? It's a good bet that Rocket Raccoon will be fighting the Mad Titan, since he made an appearance in a piece of Infinity War concept art opposite Thor (above). But what about the other team members?
Now that I think about it, Pratt's comments don't make me feel better after all! He's got me worried about the future of some of my favorite Marvel characters, and since Thanos has essentially been a sleeping beast for the past few years, you know that big purple guy is going to come out swinging in Infinity War in a big way. Feige has teased Thanos's introduction in the movie before:
Thanos shows us why he's the biggest, the best, the baddest villain that we've ever had. And the most frightening villain that the Avengers have ever faced.
Frankly, that doesn't sound great for our heroes. So while I'm excited the Guardians won't blend into the background, now I'm wondering if some of them don't even make it to the war in the first place.