Glen Powell feels that this beloved Marvel film changed Hollywood for the better

A handsome, charming and suave man, Glen Powell has made a name for himself in recent years, mostly by playing handsome and charming leading men. to Star of Edgar Wright’s remake of “The Running Man.”he owes much of this success to one Marvel Cinematic Universe veteran and his similarly charming performance on screen. talking to GQPowell credited Chris Pratt’s portrayal of Star-Lord in the 2014 film “Guardians of the Galaxy” as a catalyst for a shift in Hollywood that has allowed more upbeat and positive leading men to come to the fore. “There’s no doubt that it really helped — it wasn’t depressed or dark,” said Powell, who remembers an era when sad boys dominated the industry.

In Powell’s view, it was Robert Pattinson who launched the golden age of sad loners in Hollywood in the 2000s, with the “Twisters” star describing Pattinson as “the prototype.” That was a bad time to Powell, who made his acting debut alongside Selena Gomez in the really silly “Spy Kids 3: Game Over.” Back in 2003. For a long time, the actor told GQ magazine, he and his American good looks rarely received calls from producers for anything other than small parts. In Powell’s words, he was mostly portrayed as “the sports guy or the fraternity guy or the vanilla neighbor.” But when Pratt danced his way onto screens as Peter Quill/Star-Lord in James Gunn’s inaugural Marvel film, things began to change.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” was also a notable change of pace for the MCU at the time. The franchise has always had its famous (now infamous?) sense of humor, but Pratt was a new kind of hero. More absurd than Robert Downey Jr.’s satirical take on Tony Stark, and representing something more fun and light-hearted than what audiences have seen in recent Marvel shows like “Thor: The Dark World” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Pratt’s star was just a fun-loving guy who found himself caught up in a much bigger story than he ever seemed prepared for. He was connected and, as Powell described it, “thriving.” More importantly, he allowed the leaders of men to be fools.

In his interview with GQ magazine, Glen Powell compared himself to the most prominent example of the era of loners in superhero films: Christian Bale’s Batman. “I’m not Christian Bale,” he said. “Christian Bale has charm and heft, and Pattinson had it going.” But as the actor explained, when Chris Pratt first appeared in “Guardians of the Galaxy,” things changed. “He was doing things that were a little more ridiculous and a little bit more colorful,” the movie star said. Fun and hilarious romantic comedy “Anyone But You” The film that transformed him from a relative unknown to a friend of the Internet. He continued, “This is where I feel at home, and this is where I feel like I have equipment that is a necessary flavor of Hollywood, and not equipment that a lot of guys get to play with.”

“Running Man” director Edgar Wright seems to agree. The director told GQ that he believes Powell is “a conduit to the audience because he’s someone you can identify with or connect with.” This is certainly true of the man’s on-screen persona. It’s also part of the reason Richard Linklater’s 2024 light comedy “Hit Man” It works, as Powell’s down-to-earth persona clashes with the image of a ruthless killer to hilarious effect. But he’s also just an absurdly handsome guy, which isn’t the most “everyman” trait you can imagine. However, it worked for Pratt, and it obviously worked for the “The Running Man” star, whose career is on the rise at the moment. even if James Bond is not in Powell’s futureHe is still scheduled to appear in JJ Abrams’ upcoming fantasy film “Ghostwriter” and will also star alongside Margaret Qualley and Ed Harris in the thriller “Huntington.”

Meanwhile, although Pratt remains one of the biggest stars of the past few years, he doesn’t necessarily always get the credit he deserves for changing the way Hollywood thinks about leading men. Sure, there was always room for handsome wizards, but the actor brought an undeniably endearing silliness to Star-Lord that was definitely not the fashion at the time. And perhaps he deserves forgiveness even for his appearance in the terrible Netflix movie “The Electric State.”