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Credit: Marvel StudiosChris Pratt may be ready to leave the Marvel Cinematic Universe behind and get aboard a different billion-dollar science fiction franchise. While it has not been confirmed as of yet, it is being heavily rumored that Pratt’s days as Star-Lord may be numbered.
Take all this with a grain of salt, but Giant Freakin Robot is reporting that Chris Pratt has been cast as a lead in a new series related to Paramount’s long-running Transformers mega-franchise, which could leave him precious little time for either the MCU or various Jurassic Parks and/or Worlds.
According to GFR, Chris Pratt is set to star in an adaptation of The Micronauts, a companion toy line to Hasbro’s Transformers. While his specific role is unclear at the moment, it would not be surprising if he was cast as the token human amongst otherworldly beings like Shia LaBeouf, Mark Wahlberg, Hailee Steinfeld, and Anthony Ramos before him.
Credit: Marvel Comics
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The Micronauts have an extremely complicated history, not unlike the multi-reality canon of the Transformers. Even as a toy line, they were basically ripped off from a Japanese toy line that itself ripped off Hasbro’s G.I. Joe and changed ownership several times until they were acquired by Hasbro, a maneuver known in toy manufacturing circles as “closing the loop.”
In the late 1970s, Marvel Comics acquired the rights to publish a series about The Micronauts, which was mostly written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Michael Golden. The series had a deep, complex cosmic canon that owed a great deal to the then-new Star Wars (1977) and existed within the “Microverse,” which actually brings us back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Chris Pratt.
The MCU has adapted the Microverse as the Quantum Realm seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, presumably changing the name to not infringe on Paramount and Hasbro’s copyright. For years, Paramount has been trying to make a Micronauts film, bringing in writers like Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, and John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to no forward momentum. In 2019, the studio even announced that Dean DeBlois (of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon) would direct the film, only to cancel it the next year.
Related: Chris Pratt Defied Disney’s Wishes in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
However, with Chris Pratt as the lead, it seems that Hasbro and Paramount have a little more confidence in The Micronauts. We’ll just have to wait and see whether Star-Lord can handle yet another huge sci-fi franchise. Considering his future in the MCU is uncertain after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and Transformers seems to be opening up in a shared universe with G.I. Joe, this could be a good time for him to make a move.
Would you see a Micronauts movie, or has Chris Pratt lost his shine? Let us know in the comments below!