Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Villain Chukwudi Iwuji Speaks Out on Being Mean to Animals in New Film (Exclusive)

The early reviews for Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 have been pretty positive, but something that might stick out if you look at the Rotten Tomatoes page is a couple of reviews that mention animal cruelty being a big part of the plot. That is not as surprising as it might seem, considering the movie is really centered on Rocket, whose backstory has been implied to be pretty bleak. Still, it’s going to be a rough sit for some fans, and the film’s villain, The High Evolutionary, is likely to be one of the most hated Marvel villains to come along by the time folks have actually seen the movie.

Chukwudi Iwuji told ComicBook.com that it was helpful to work with the on-set humans, so that it felt less like animal cruelty, and more like just…being a villain. Still, he said, once he had a chance to see the footage, it was tough.

“What was helpful was that I was working with Sean Gunn a lot as opposed to any animals, so I was interacting with another actor,” Iwuji told ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis. “But I have to say, the first time I saw — I was doing an ADR or something and I saw a scene with Rocket’s eyes, I literally saw my dog’s eyes…I saw his face, and I was like, ‘I am going to Hell’ when I saw that. It really helped that when I was dealing with the animals, I wasn’t really dealing with any animals, becuase it would have been much harder that way. My agent couldn’t talk to me properly for like two days after a screening. She went home and hugged her dog, and was like, ‘I don’t know how I can talk to you.’”

You can check out the official synopsis for the film below.

In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past,” the synopsis reads. “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.

2022’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and the rest of the Guardians franchise, is now available to stream on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.