Garfield fans bemoan decision to cast Chris Pratt: ‘Did he win a bet with a witch?’

‘Chris Pratt as Garfield is the biggest miscasting since Chris Pratt as Mario’

Fans of Garfield have shared their frustration at the news that Chris Pratt has been cast in a forthcoming film adaptation.

It was announced yesterday (1 November) that the Guardians of the Galaxy star will play the curmudgeonly cat in a new adaptation of Jim Davis’s beloved cartoon strip.

The news comes just weeks after it was revealed that Pratt will voice iconic video game character Mario in a forthcoming Super Mario movie, a decision that was met with a backlash of its own.

On social media, viewers lamented the decision not to cast a specialised voice actor to play Garfield, with many claiming that Pratt was ill-suited to the role.

“I don’t want to live in a world in which Mario and Garfield are the same guy,” wrote one person.

“Chris Pratt as Garfield is the biggest miscast[ing] since Chris Pratt as Mario.”

“Don’t care, doesn’t matter, won’t see it, never seen a Garfield, but it’s very funny that this is just the thing now,” wrote someone else.

“The most generic ‘some guy’ voice available and they keep throwing iconic, unique-sounding animated characters at him. Did he win a bet with a witch?”

Garfield was voiced by Bill Murray in two previous movie adaptations, Garfield: The Movie and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, both of which were critically panned.

The release date for the new film is currently unknown.