James Gunn on the David Bowie Cameo He Wanted in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

During his newest Facebook question and answer session, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 writer and director James Gunn revealed the cameo he had in mind for legendary musician David Bowie: “I wanted David Bowie to play a member of Yondu’s original crew,” Gunn said.

Bowie passed away in January 2016 from liver cancer at the age of 69. Gunn made a heartfelt Facebook post following Bowie’s death, sharing that there had been talks of including the Labyrinth actor in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel.

“Just a very short while ago Kevin Feige and I were talking about a cameo role in Guardians Vol. 2, and he brought up Bowie’s name,” Gunn wrote. “I told him nothing in the world would make me happier, but I heard from common friends he wasn’t doing well. We heard back that he was okay and it could potentially happen. Who knows what that was about? But, for whatever reason, it made my Twitter revelation more of a surprise.”

“Bowie was an idol of mine, huge and omnipresent,” Gunn continued. “Few artists in any field have had as an indelible impression upon me as he has. To my mind, Ziggy Stardust is perhaps the greatest rock and roll album of all time. We featured ‘Moonage Daydream’ in Guardians, but I always thought the album’s character was felt far beyond that, in the aesthetics, in the integral and seemingly-natural linking in popular culture of ’70’s rock and space opera. I’ve been trying to work another song from Ziggy into the sequel, which would make Bowie the only artist to have a song on both Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. I thought this was fair and appropriate. Although I cut the scene it was used in from the script, we have the rights. Who knows. Maybe I can figure a way out.”

A Bowie song ultimately was not included on the Awesome Mix Vol. 2 soundtrack or in the production, but Bowie’s “Suffragette City” appeared in advertising materials for the film. There’s always the possibility another Bowie song is included in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will once again be written and directed by Gunn. As of May 2017, Gunn had already began scripting the Guardians threequel.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn (Slither). The film marks the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (Spectre) as Drax; Vin Diesel (Furious 7) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (Jumper) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (The Big Short) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (The Knick, The Drop) and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight, The Thing).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is available to own on 4K UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on August 22nd.