Rumors: Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Josh Holloway up for CAPTAIN AMERICA 2? Plus Character Info for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

It’s been a couple of weeks since our last round of Marvel rumors, but today a new batch of possible information has popped up concerning both Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  While director James Gunn is currently busy rewriting the script for the other-worldly Guardians, we may now have a clearer idea of which characters from the comics will be in the spotlight when that film rolls around.  Additionally, another rumor throws Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Lost actor Josh Holloway into the possible casting ring for Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Hit the jump for all the details.

While many of the rumors for properties this big don’t pan out, this information comes from the folks over at Latino Review, a source that’s proven to be fairly credible as far as Marvel is concerned.  As such, they carry a bit more weight.

Regarding Guardians, Marvel previously announced that the feature film iteration of the comics series would feature the following characters: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax The Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.  That’s a pretty large ensemble for any film, let alone a space-set superhero adventure movie.  Latino Review reports that this introductory Guardians of the Galaxy feature will focus mainly on three of those characters: Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax the Destroyer.

This approach makes plenty of sense, as these are the characters that will be the most relatable to audiences unfamiliar with the Guardians series.  Star-Lord is a U.S. pilot who ends up in space in the middle of a universal conflict, so he’s a natural protagonist to introduce audiences to the world of Guardians.  As for Rocket Raccooon and Groot, well they’re a talking raccoon and a tree so I don’t think anyone’s going to be too upset if they’re relegated to supporting players.

As for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we recently got wind of a shortlist of actresses that were poised to test for the film’s female lead: Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Alison Brie (Community), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey).  The role is that of Sharon Carter (aka Agent 13), the niece of The First Avenger’s female lead Peggy Carter.  Findlay and Clarke are both from England and Brie does one hell of a British accent, so the casting list made it seem like producers were looking for someone with strong English ties.

LR, however, hears that Marvel has their eye on a different actress for the role: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World star Mary Elizabeth Winstead.  In addition to being incredibly charming in Scott Pilgrim and Live Free or Die Hard, Winstead showed off some serious acting chops earlier this year with the Sundance drama Smashed.  She’s apparently the actress that Marvel currently has the most traction with for the role, but it doesn’t sound like any offers or deals have been made just yet.  I still think Brie has a lot of traction given that Community producers Joe and Anthony Russo are directing The Winter Soldier, but I wouldn’t be disappointed if Winstead nabbed the part instead.

In other Captain America 2 casting rumors, Marvel is currently looking to fill two “very physical” male roles that are assumed to be villains.  LR hears that for one of the parts, Marvel is keen on either Lost actor Josh Holloway or Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster Waldau.  They note that Kevin Durand (Cosmopolis, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) is also on the list, though he’s more of a fringe choice compared to Holloway or Waldau.  It’s unclear who has the edge, but it’s hard to judge who’s better for the role without knowing anything about the character.

Again, it’s important to note that none of this information has been confirmed, so we could see all or none of this pan out.  LR’s track record gives a bit more clout to the information, though, so don’t be surprised if you hear some of the aforementioned names pop up in upcoming reports.  Captain America: The Winter Soldier starts production in March and hits theaters on April 4th, 2014, while Guardians of the Galaxy opens on August 1st, 2014.