MARVEL'S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY SPOILERS!!!

Lee Pace in Final Talks to Play Villain in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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One of the last major pieces of Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film appears to be falling into place.  Director James Gunn has already secured Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana(Gamora), David Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), and most recently Michael Rooker (Yondu) to play his titular Guardians in the film, and just yesterday we learned that Ophelia Lovibond (No Strings Attached) has signed on to play a mysterious character that’s rumored to be an aide to the villainous The Controller.

Well, now it appears that one of the actors that previously tested for the protagonist role of Star-Lord has subsequently been set as the film’s villain, as Pushing Daisies star Lee Pace is in final talks to play the antagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy.  Hit the jump for more.

The folks over at The Wrap report that Pace is in final negotiations to play the baddie in Guardians of the Galaxy.  We know that the villainous Thanos will be involved in Guardians in some capacity, but recently we’ve been hearing more about the comics villain The Collector also being involved in the film.  Thanos is that big purple guy who showed up at the end ofThe Avengers and is presumably going to be the principal villain in The Avengers 2, but The Controller is a highly skilled chemist and mechanical engineer who specializes in mind control and sports an armored exoskeleton.

Pace’s role is being kept firmly under wraps, but given that The Controller is the main henchman for Thanos and Marvel likely wouldn’t want to have the same villain for two films in a role, one surmises that The Controller (aka Basil Sandhurst) could be the principal baddie of Guardians of the Galaxy with Thanos playing a “puppet master” role in the film before he steps into the spotlight in The Avengers 2.  As such, I wouldn’t be shocked if Pace were poised to play The Controller.

Pace is an inspired bit of casting, if you ask me.  He shined in Bryan Fuller’s short-lived TV seriesPushing Daisies, and he’s nabbed a couple of high-profile roles as of late, appearing in Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln and playing the elf Thranduil in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.  I’m thrilled to see him step into a leading role on such a large property, and hopefully we hear more about the nature of his character soon.  Guardians of the Galaxy opens on August 1, 2014.