Guardians of the Galaxy 3: Chris Pratt gave speech to cast reading out critics who said first film would flop

‘I wanted to read some of those clippings to the cast and crew… I guess kind of rub it in a little bit,’ actor said

Chris Pratt chose to call out the press in a speech to the cast and crew after filming wrapped on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.

The film is the third and final instalment in the franchise, the first of which, released in 2014, turned Pratt into one of Hollywood’s leading men.

Previously, the actor was known for playing unemployed slacker Andy Dwyer on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation.

When Guardians of the Galaxy was first announced, many critics predicted that the movie could be Marvel’s “first flop” due to its lack of A-list talent and relatively unknown characters.

In a new interview with Fandango, Pratt revealed that he kept the press clippings of those predictions and read them out at the end of filming Vol 3.

“I’m not a vindictive person… but I happened to have in my notes file several press clippings saved from the first movie when everyone predicted that Guardians of the Galaxy was going to be Marvel’s first flop,” Pratt said in a joint interview with his costar Karen Gillan.

“That was the consensus critically. Everyone was saying all of these negative things. At the time, we were insecure and nervous about the prospects… I remember all of that.”

“Of course, none of that came true,” Pratt continued. “We had this great run. At the end, I wanted to read some of those clippings to the cast and crew and to [director] James [Gunn] and to… I guess kind of rub it in a little bit.

“Just to say we overcame a lot to get to where we are and we weren’t supposed to be where we are but we did something special. Just to bask in the moment of what these last 10 years have been.”

The film went on to earn $772m (£622m) at the worldwide box office and the 2017 sequel did even better with $863m (£695m) worldwide.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is in cinemas 5 May.

Pratt was recently forced to defend his casting in a new film: The Super Mario Bros Movie.

Critics have expressed concern over the American actor portraying a famously Italian character.

“Oh, I totally get it, man,” Pratt said of the backlash. “There’s a passionate fan base and I’m one of the fans. I get it. Mostly, people don’t want something like this to get screwed up. They’re precious about it. They’re careful. And I’m grateful for that.”

The Super Mario Bros Movie will be released on 7 April.