Michael Rooker recently revealed that he almost played a different character in Guardians of the Galaxy.
One of the standout characters from Guardians of the Galaxy was Michael Rooker’s Yondu but it turns out that the star almost didn’t play the leader of the Ravagers. Before the Marvel Studios project began filming, Michael Rooker was on The Walking Dead, which meant that the star had to make sure his schedule for the zombie show matched up with Guardians of the Galaxy.
At GalaxyCon Richmond, ComicBook.com was on hand to hear that Michael Rooker finally got the chance to play Yondu once he found out his Walking Dead character Merle Dixon was getting killed off. But before Michael Rooker knew that, he was signed on to play a different role.
“I called James Gunn up and said, ‘I can do Yondu now. I was at the airport and James and I had just spoken, and we were like, ‘Oh man, sh-t, this Walking Dead thing is still going on. You’re shooting the film, Guardians 1, right when we’re filming the season.’ And so I was gonna play another role in Guardians of the Galaxy.”
It turns out that Michael Rooker was originally going to play Korath the Pursuer in Guardians of the Galaxy, the role that eventually went to Djimon Hounsou. Michael Rooker continued by discussing how once he knew his character in Walking Dead was gone for good, he called up James Gunn to secure the role of Yondu.
“I looked at the dates, and they said to me, ‘This is so top secret. Don’t tell a soul. Don’t let this out to anyone’ I said, ‘Absolutely, no problem!’ I left that conversation and I got out my cell phone, I said, ‘Hey Gunn, guess what? They just killed my ass off, dude. I can do Yondu.’ And he goes, ‘Sh-t, yeah!!’ And that’s how it worked out.”
In the end, it’s always great when scheduling conflicts like this work out. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the role of Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy besides Michael Rooker. Because of Michael Rooker, we got one of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the form of Yondu.
What are your thoughts on Michael Rooker almost playing a different character in Guardians of the Galaxy? Let us know in the comments!
Details on the third chapter of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy are currently unknown, though the film will likely explore the ramifications of the universe-changing events in Avengers: Endgame. The film is also set to be the final outing for this current iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is expected to star Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, and Sean Gunn. Chris Hemsworth’s involvement is speculated upon, due to Thor joining the Guardians at the end of Avengers: Endgame, but it has yet to be confirmed by Marvel Studios or James Gunn.
Source: ComicBook.com
