Zoe Saldana will be getting her space-faring gear out of storage again. The **Star Trek **(and Into Darkness) crewmember is now in negotiations to play Gamora in Marvel’s **Guardians Of The Galaxy.
Gamora is a green-skinned tough nut assassin who also happens to be the last of a species exterminated by a nasty race called the Badoon. Oh, and in some of the Guardians’ comics run, she’s the adopted daughter of Thanos. Which, given that he’s likely to be the Big Bad (or at least a threat) in the film, could make things awkward…
Saldana is the latest actor cast, and joins Chris Pratt as Star-Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax The Destroyer in the film. The super hero group still needs tree creature Groot and weapons obsessive Rocket Racoon, though those two are more likely to be performance capture or CG/voice work.
In related Guardians news, Latino Review (which has had some solid hits with Marvel rumour reporting in particular) has heard that mind control expert and cyber suit-sporting villain The Controller will be popping up as Thanos’ henchman in the film. There’s no official word on the character or his casting, but we’ll keep an eye out. While the video featuring Gunn talking about the film as part of Marvel's Phase Two tease was yanked, the concept art remains and you can go here to check it out.
James Gunn is preparing to direct Guardians in the UK starting this June, aiming for an August release date next year. Saldana will be back among the asteroids for Star Trek Into Darkness (May 9) and has recently worked on crime thriller Out Of The Furnace with Christian Bale. For those still unsure what Guardians Of The Galaxy will be all about, head here. Oh, and to find out why Saldana and her Trek director J.J. Abrams have a (comedy) beef going, you'll want to pick up the latest Empire, in shops or on the iPad now**.