Gears of War designer doesn't want Chris Pratt in the Netflix adaptations: "please, FFS"

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Cliffy B has several casting ideas for the upcoming Gears of War movie and TV adaptations

Chris Pratt in Jurassic World Dominion
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Gears of War is getting movie and TV adaptations from Netflix, and the game's original designer, Cliff Bleszinski, has opinions on who should and shouldn't be cast.

As soon as news starting spreading about Netflix's Gears of War live-action movie and "adult animated series," fans online started sharing their casting fantasies. Unsurprisingly, a lot of folks want Dave Bautista, best known as Drax in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, to play protagonist Marcus Fenix in the movie. Bleszinski, often nicknamed 'Cliffy B', also shared his support for Bautista as Marcus, adding that he'd like to see "a Latino actor for Dom, dammit."

"Fun fact: Carlos Ferro was cast [in the Gears of War games] after I had played a recent Splinter Cell game at the time and the Latino bad guys sounded like Speedy Gonzalez and I was like WTF is this," Bleszinski said. "Let's get someone who is Latino who has a subtle accent FFS."

Bleszinski also said The Boys actor Karl Urban would be "fuckin' diabolical" as Marcus and that Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds would be "perfect" as Baird. However, he drew the line at Chris Pratt, who is playing the titular plumber in the upcoming Super Mario Bros movie adaptation.

"Oh and keep Chris Pratt away from the Gears franchise, please, FFS," Bleszinski said. He later responded to a fan suggestion to have Pratt play "every Carmine brother," characters who have become a running gag in the series by always dying unceremoniously, by saying, "that.... might work."

Whether or not Cliffy B gets his casting choices, it remains to be seen whether Gears of War is fated to join the ranks of the best video game movies ever or fade away like the Carmine brothers.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.