Indeed, when it came to casting, Gunn had one eye on The Avengers in terms of how he wanted to populate his movie
I was very specific that I wanted it to be somebody really extraordinary, he says of Chris Pratts Star-Lord. I really had Robert Downey Jr. in mind a lot. You had this guy who came in and he inhabited Tony Stark, when you first saw Tony Stark he blew your mind, you couldnt believe what you were seeing.
We saw a lot of good performances, but it wasnt until Chris came in and he read and I was like, oh my God, this guy has his own, very particular, amazing take on the character that blew my mind, blew me away. Then I thought, this is the first guy I could see sharing the screen with Robert Downey Jr. and giving him a run for his money.