During a press junket in Los Angeles Thursday for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," I asked director James Gunn and Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, about some of the surprise characters featured in the post-credit scenes.
Specifically, I wondered about one scene in which Sylvester Stallone's character, who plays Stakar Ogord, (but is also known as Starhawk in the comics) appears to be assembling a team of his own with history together. I had this hunch it was harkening back to the original Guardians of the Galaxy team from the comic books. Because I'm one of those guys who reads comics!
***DO NOT READ BELOW THIS LINE. SPOILERS AHEAD! I HAVE WARNED YOU FOR THE VERY LAST TIME!***
It featured Ving Rhames, Michelle Yeoh and others, and my guess was Rhames might be the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of Charlie-27 from the comic book.
When I asked about it, both Feige and Gunn kept passing the question back to one another while the audience laughed. Here's what they said:
Feige: They're definitely the original Guardians. That was the fun of it and when James had the idea to do more with the Yondu character -- who is also an original Guardian -- there was the notion that he had a team once like Peter does now. That'd be fun to see them. And [Ving Rhames] is definitely Charlie-27.
Where we see them in the future, time will tell.
Gunn: With all the post-credits scenes on this movie, they're all funny and fun, and most of them are things we hope to see continue on in the MCU. Whether that's a supporting role in future movies or whatever, I think it would be great to see those things and those characters show up.
I then asked if they could identify the rest of the teammates.
Gunn: Well, you can read the credits so. Right? I mean, yeah, Ving Rhames is Charlie-27. Michelle Yeoh who I'm an enormous fan of from -- I'm a big fan of '90s Hong Kong films. She's a very wonderful person. She is Aleta Ogord who is the other Starhawk, the female Starhawk.
I followed it up with "Who's the red alien guy?"
Gunn: He's not in the credits. Should I say it? That's Krugarr. And then Mainframe is the last one.
Feige: Have you told anyone who Mainframe is?
Gunn: I haven't told anyone, yeah. Should we?
The crowd laughed at the awkward exchange again.
Gunn: Oh I think I actually did. I blew it. I told one person.
Feige: It'll get out.
They kept the identity of Mainframe pretty under wraps, but he's basically the original Guardians of the Galaxy alternate universe's version of Vision, who's the chief operating system of an entire planet.
Blogger Sarah Ruhlman tweeted that the voice of Mainframe was actually done by Miley Cyrus. Yes, the Miley Cyrus.
They also didn't talk about one of Stakar's right-hand men who appears in the movie multiple times and is almost certainly Martinex T'Naga. He's rumored to be played by Michael Rosenbaum, based on earlier reports of him having an important role with Sylvester Stallone. His skin has a sharp mirrored-glass appearance done in effects so you can't cleanly make out his face. Martinex is also one of the original members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics.
As for Krugarr, the red alien I asked about? According to the Marvel wiki, Krugarr was found by Doctor Stephen Strange on Lem and agreed to become his apprentice and learn the ways of magic. He succeeds Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme. Just another piece that connects all these characters in the MCU!
So here's the breakdown for the members of the original Guardians of the Galaxy that make an appearance. Stakar (Starhawk) is played by Sylvester Stallone. Aleta Ogord is played by Michelle Yeoh and she's the female Starhawk and sister of Stakar Ogord who is her adopted brother. I know what you're thinking...Comics! Charlie-27 is the muscle of the group played by Ving Rhames. Yondu Udonta is played by Michael Rooker. Martinex is likely played by Michael Rosenbaum. Krugarr is a CG character. And Mainframe is possibly voiced by Miley Cyrus.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" debuts on May 5.
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