However you may feel about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there’s one thing about the franchise that can’t be denied: it plays the long game, and not just with what we see on camera. Taking into account the future also factors into casting. For instance, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige revealed that one of the reasons Chris Pratt was cast as Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, in Guardians of the Galaxy was because they thought he would perform well opposite Robert Downey Jr. someday. In Feige’s words:
We always cast for the movie we’re making, but we also have an eye on the future. So when we were casting Chris Pratt, we needed the best Star-Lord, but at the same time, we said, ‘We need somebody who one day might go toe to toe with Robert Downey Jr.’ On the very first day of Avengers: Infinity War there was Robert, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, and it was pretty amazing! There have been a handful of times in our ten years here at Marvel Studios where we have had to just stop for a second and pinch ourselves. That was one of those moments.
Marvel didn’t announce its Phase 3 film slate until October 2014, so while some Marvel Comics fans were predicting that the MCU’s Thanos would seek out the six Infinity Stones like his comic book counterpart, the public didn’t know that Avengers: Infinity War Parts I and II (later changed to Avengers: Infinity War and the still-untitled Avengers 4) were on the way. But the creative minds at Marvel certainly did, and even though the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are among the more self-contained entries within the MCU, Kevin Feige and his ilk knew that the Guardians would eventually cross paths with some of the MCU’s Earthbound heroes, like Iron Man.
That moment finally arrived this past May, as Avengers: Infinity War saw Iron Man, Doctor Strange and Spider-Man, who flew away from Earth on Ebony Maw’s ship, meeting Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis and later Nebula on Titan, Thanos’ dead homeworld. While the Avengers and Guardians both work to protect the innocent, the teams definitely have clashing methods and personalities, and Iron Man was especially exasperated by his interactions with the Guardians.
Here is a funny video of Chris Pratt acting crazy but just like Robert Downey Junior, he is also inspirational!