Marvel Tests for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lead in Shortlist of Actors, Including Joel Edgerton, Jack Huston, Lee Pace, Jim Sturgess and Eddie Redmayne

While rumors continue to swirl around Disney’s Star Wars, Marvel is busy looking for their Star-Lord. A shortlist of actors is reportedly being tested for the lead role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn (Super). Included on that list are Joel Edgerton (Warrior), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Lee Pace (Lincoln) and Eddie Redmayne (My Week with Marilyn). The leader of the Guardians, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, was born of a human mother and alien father. He’s a master strategist and combat expert who wears an ability-enhancing suit and pilots a psychically-linked ship. Sounds like a fun role for any one of these guys to make their own, but there have been even more names thrown into the competition. Hit the jump to check them out.

Deadline reported on Marvel’s shortlist of actors to take on the mantle of Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy, but the list is not exhaustive. Other names of interest include Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy), James Marsden (X-Men) and Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom). Being familiar with most of these names, my money goes to Edgerton being the favorite. Hedlund and Marsden had their chance to be leaders in big franchises and I never quite bought into it. Pace is a fantastic actor, but I just can’t picture him as a grizzled and disgruntled leader of an alien space force. I’m not too up to date on performances from Huston, Redmayne or Stapleton, but I have to say that the latter has the look and size to be a believable Star-Lord. Whether I’m right or wrong in my assumptions, be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Look for Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1st, 2014.