( EW.com ) -- Chris Pratt 's career is about to soar out of this world â€ ” or , more accurately , out of this galaxy . EW has confirmed that the `` Parks and Recreation '' funnyman will play the lead character in Marvel 's upcoming `` Guardians of the Galaxy , '' a key part of Marvel 's Phase Two plan . Deadline first reported the news . EW.com : Marvel Studios goes micro and macro with Comic-Con revelations . Pratt , who recently slimmed down ( and bulked up ) for his role in `` Zero Dark Thirty , '' will play Star Lord , the half-human , half-alien leader of a bio-engineered team of space-traveling heroes . That team includes a green-skinned warrior , a gun-slinging raccoon , a female alien assassin and a fearsome tree-being . With director James Gunn , the man behind the shlocky masterpiece that is `` Slither , '' and newly-crowned leading man Pratt , is there a chance that `` Guardians of the Galaxy '' will be an outright superhero comedy ? EW.com : James Gunn confirms he 's directing 'Guardians of the Galaxy ' The source material certainly suggests that the film could work as a totally ridiculous adventure , but we 'll obviously have to wait and see what tone the filmmakers choose . See the original story at EW.com . Entertainment Weekly 's Anthony Breznican contributed to this report . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Chris Pratt will play the lead character in `` Guardians of the Galaxy '' He 'll portray Star Lord , the half-human , half-alien leader of a team of space-traveling heroes . The film is scheduled to be released on May 1st 2016