Glenn Close Nears Deal to Join Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

While we pretty much know what to expect with Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy is the real wild card in Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie, directed by James Gunn, is set in another part of the Marvel universe and focuses on an intergalactic team of superheroes, kind of like the Avengers but in space ... and with a talking raccoon as one it's members. Like I said, the real wild card in Marvel's future.

On Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Oscar nominee Glenn Close is in talks to play "the head of a space police force known as the Nova Corps." It would take too much space to explain the Nova Corps here, but let's just say that the group's inclusion in Guardians of the Galaxy opens the Marvel Cinematic Universe up even more than this movie was already going to.

If Close closes her deal, she'll join Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker and Lee Pace in a growing cast. Reports from earlier this week also revealed that Marvel is working on bringing John C. Reilly into Guardians of the Galaxy.

Let's just take a moment to recognize the fact that Glenn Close and Robert Redford (playing a SHIELD higher-up in Captain America: The Winter Soldier) are in superhero movies. These two are acting legends, and they're signing on to put on stupid costumes and act in front of green screens. Mind-blowing.