Chris Pratt has become one of Hollywood's most recognizable leading men by playing similar roles, so its time for him to play a villain. While Pratt first started to gain recognition through his comedic work as Andy on Parks and Recreation, he became a sought after movie star after 2014. This was when he made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy's shockingly great reception and performance, Pratt was cast as the lead of Jurassic World. As the star of both films, Pratt is unquestionably playing the hero. His characters are both roguish and charming and they prioritize Pratt's comedic abilities over anything else. When his role as Emmett in The LEGO Movie franchise is mixed in, along with his upcoming role in Pixar's Onward, Pratt continues to play unexpected (and occasionally dumb) heroes. As a result, whenever Pratt's future roles are discussed, he's been boxed into playing similar characters over and over again.
Pratt is a great lead, but he can only play the same sort of character so many times without audiences getting tired of it. With appearances in Jurassic World 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 still to come, we'll get plenty of heroic Pratt in the future. But, that is exactly why Pratt should look to play a villain as one of his next roles. As discussed in a new Screen Rant video, actors like Michael Keaton, Michael B. Jordan, Idris Elba, and Liam Neeson have proven to be great heroes and villains, and we want to see if Pratt can join that group and pull off an evil turn.
Prior to becoming Star-Lord and Owen Grady, Pratt was proving that he has dramatic chops in Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty that could translate to a villain role. To this point, Pratt has only done one true villain role in Vincent D'Onofrio's indie movie The Kid - unless you believe he was also one in Avengers: Infinity War since Star-Lord was the reason Thanos won. With so few people seeing The Kid though, it would be a welcomed change for moviegoers to see Pratt as a villain and would allow him to show this side of him again.
So, if Pratt is going to play a villain in the future, the obvious question is where could he do it. One incredibly fun option could be for him to follow in Henry Cavill's shoes and leave the superhero game behind to be a villain in the Mission: Impossible franchise. But, there is no reason why Pratt could only play a villain in a blockbuster film. If anything, it may be more likely that an antagonistic role for him would come in a smaller movie like The Kid, but hopefully this time it would be in a slightly bigger project that more people take notice of.
At this point, there is no telling whether or not Pratt will take on a villain role again or if he has any desire to. Even if a full villain turn isn't in the future for Pratt, something akin to Chris Evans shedding the Captain America persona to play a bit of a prick in Knives Out could be the way to go. Fans have just become so used to Pratt's character types that he's routinely in the "next Indiana Jones" conversation that switching things up could be great for everyone. Now we'll just have to wait and see if it happens.