Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 Director Says He Almost Offered High Evolutionary Role to a Big Star

In the commentary track for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3, the filmmaker revealed that he almost offered the role of the High Evolutionary to an established star who was big enough that they would not have had to audition for the part. The franchise’s third villain — a role that followed Lee Pace’s Ronan and Kurt Russell’s Ego — was one that a number of big-name actors were interested in pursuing, and apparently Gunn was at least entertaining the idea of bringing one of them on board before meeting Chukwudi Iwuji on the set of Peacemaker. 

According to Gunn, it didn’t take long to see that Iwuji was a remarkable actor, and someone he wanted to bring on board as the High Evolutionary. All he had to do was sell it to Kevin Feige at Marvel.

“A lot of really big-name actors wanted to play the High Evolutionary,” Gunn said. “I almost offered it…this was going to be a big enough name that they wouldn’t have auditioned. I almost offered this role to a big-name actor, and then I met Chuk on the set of Peacemaker, and he just really was such an amazing actor. He’s a theatrically trained actor, does a lot of Shakespeare, he’s done a lot of theater in New York, that’s his background. But I loved working with him so much, I loved him so much as a human being that I really wanted to give him an opportunity. So I called up Kevin Feige, I said, ‘I’ve got this guy, this is who he is, I think he’s really incredible, I think we should give him a chance.’ So we did a screen test with him. We tested him — he’s the only person who tested, the only person who read for the role, and it was just this incredible audition, and that was how he got the role.”

Gunn said he also got to reveal the news to Iwuji on the day they filmed the opening dance sequence for Peacemaker, an anecdote that the actor has shared before. However, Iwuji remembers it slightly differently — that he was pitched on the role during the dance sequence, but didn’t know he had it for sure until later.

“He said it on that day, and I’ve never been so surprised in my professional life like that,” Iwuji told ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis. “That’s how he pitched it to me, and a few weeks later we did a screen test and sent it over to the big man Kevin Feige, and Kevin said ‘Yeah, that’s the guy.’ So that’s how it happened. I feel very blessed.”

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.

The movie now in theaters, and is available now on digital video on demand platforms. It comes to Blu-ray and DVD in August.