- Chris Pratt called out press reports that said "Guardians of the Galaxy" would flop.
- The star said he kept clippings of negative reports claiming it would be Marvel's "first failure."
The cosmic misfits in Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" have gone on a huge journey since they first debuted back in 2014, even joining in the battle against Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Endgame."
But it's worth pointing out that before 2014, there was much skepticism around the Guardians and whether or not it would be a success. The team were very much B and C-list characters in the comics, and the movie was seen as more of a risk compared to the likes of "Iron Man," "Captain America: The First Avenger," and "Thor."
Leading man Chris Pratt has now said that he kept notes of all the negative press that dismissed James Gunn's first "Guardians of the Galaxy" movie before its release.
He told Fandango in an interview published Monday: "I'm not a vindictive person… but I happened to have in my notes file several press clippings saved from the first movie when everyone predicted that 'Guardians of the Galaxy' was going to be Marvel's first flop."
The Star-Lord actor explained that the "consensus" around the film was very negative, noting that some of the reports criticized it for not having big enough names leading it.
Pratt added: "That was the consensus critically. Everyone was saying all of these negative things. At the time, we were insecure and nervous about the prospects… they're saying it's a title no one has ever heard of, we don't have any A-list stars, [it will be] Marvel's first failure. I remember all of that."
Thankfully, the film was a huge hit — raking in $772 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo) — and propelled the cast and their characters to greater heights of popularity.
Pratt went on to say that he read out some of the negative press as a way of rallying the cast and crew on his last day on the set of the upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
He said: "Of course, none of that came true. We had this great run. At the end, I wanted to read some of those clippings to the cast and crew and to James and to… I guess kind of rub it in a little bit."
The star added: "Just to say we overcame a lot to get to where we are and we weren't supposed to be where we are but we did something special. Just to bask in the moment of what these last 10 years have been."