We've spent months waiting with bated breath for Marvel Studios to announce who they will have voice the gun-loving Rocket Raccoon in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy, and today it sounds as though they may have found their actor. A source over in England, where the film is currently shooting has told Latino-Review that Bradley Cooper has been offered the chance to voice the diminutive hero in the 2014 space epic, and the report has since been confirmed by a href=http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/bradley-cooper-talks-voice-rocket-raccoon-marvels-guardians-galaxy-112636>The Wrap. Whether or not Cooper will accept the role remains unknown.
If this rumor turns out to be true it would mean that the core team at the heart of the movie has been completely cast. As we've previously reported, Chris Pratt is playing Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana is playing Gamora, Dave Bautista is playing Drax the Destroyer, and Vin Diesel will be voicing the walking tree known as Groot. The film also sports one of the best supporting casts that Marvel Studios has been able to put together yet, bringing together Lee Pace (as Ronan the Accuser), Michael Rooker (as Yondu), Karen Gillan (as Nebula), Djimon Hounsou (as Korath), Benicio del Toro (as The Collector), John C. Reilly (as Rhomann Dey), Glenn Close (as Nova Prime), and Peter Serafinowicz.
Cooper would be an interesting choice for the character if not only because there have been many different interpretations of what Rocket Raccoon's voice sounds like. For example, in the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes he was portrayed with a cockney accent (as voiced by Greg Ellis):
While in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated show he was brought to life with an American accent (as voiced by Billy West):
If Cooper is in fact Marvel's top choice for Rocket Raccoon, I must say that I'm not too thrilled with the choice. Cooper is certainly a fine actor - as proven by his performance in last year's Silver Linings Playbook - but his voice isn't exactly distinctive. That said, I also wasn't too happy about Chris Evans being cast as Captain America back when Captain America: The First Avenger was in still development, and I ended up thinking that the selection was perfect. Perhaps it will end up being the same thing in this situation.
Guardians of the Galaxy is currently in production and will be in theaters on August 8, 2014.
