'Guardians of the Galaxy' casting is starting to heat up as the pieces are now coming into place. First word came that Chris Pratt would be playing Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and now it's been announced that Dave Bautista has landed the plum role of Drax the Destroyer.

This news comes from The Hollywood Reporter, and early word suggested that Jason Momoa (of 'Game of Thrones' and the 'Conan the Barbarian' reboot) was the front runner for the part of Drax the Destroyer, but it seems that Marvel and director James Gunn went another way. Bautista comes from the world of wrestling (specifically the WWE), though he was recently in the RZA's 'The Man with the Iron Fists' and will be seen in the Vin Diesel film 'Riddick' later this year.

With two of the leads cast, this means a couple of things. One is that the rest of the team should start falling into place shortly as they will begin shooting soon for their August 1, 2014 release date (word is they'll be starting this month). The other thing is that it's likely we'll get our first look at Peter Quill, and possibly Drax as well when 'Iron Man 3' opens on May 3, or possibly at the end of 'Thor: The Dark World' when it hits screens November 8.

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