Michael Rooker Says He’ll Only Return for Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 3’ On One Condition
James Gunn couldn’t make Guardians of the Galaxy without his friend Michael Rooker. He cast Rooker as Yondu, the Centaurian father figure to Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) in the Marvel comics. Yondu returned in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 but Rooker believes that should be the end for Yondu. However, he’s not opposed to returning for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3.
[Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.]
Rooker was on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast on April 7. Even Rosenbaum asked Rooker if Yondu would be back in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. Rooker said he definitely won’t return as Yondu, but he has an idea for a different way he could be in the third film.
Michael Rooker would play anyone but Yondu in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3’
Yondu made the heroic sacrifice at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. He flew Star-Lord to safety from Planet Ego in the cold vacuum of space, giving his surrogate son the only breathing device. Rooker doesn’t want to cheapen that by bringing Yondu back, but he’d play someone else.
“I would play something else,” Rooker said. “I would play something else but why would I want to play Yondu? Yondu had a wonderful [arc], the most amazing send-off that you would ever want in a cinematic Marvel history. My God, dude, why do you want to spoil that by bringing the character back now?”
Michael Rooker also caught some Zs at the end of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2’
Rooker was so invested in Yondu’s death, he even lost consciousness for his funeral scene. When you see Yondu’s body, Rooker is sleeping.
“I went to sleep about five or six times,” Rooker said. “We did about five or six takes. I can sleep and still know what’s going on. Subconsciously, as soon as the cut was cut, I wake up. As soon as they said action, within 10 seconds or so, I was sleeping.”
As devoted as Rooker is to honoring Yondu’s death, filming the scene didn’t weigh on him too heavily.
“I wasn’t thinking about when Yondu dies,” Rooker said. “I’m Yondu in the scene so I’m not thinking about I’m dying or anything like that. I wasn’t thinking anything. I was just doing the scene.”
If Marvel offers to bring Yondu back in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3,’ he’ll say no
This being the Marvel Cinematic Universe, death is never permanent. How many times has Loki come back? Characters even die and come back within the same film! You can quote Rooker on this though. If they want him to play Yondu again, he’s saying no.
“No way,” Rooker said. “I’m dead. My character’s dead. I’m with Gunn. There’s consequences when you die. You’re supposed to stay dead. You’re dead. What the hell are you coming back for? Why are they bringing all these schmucks back? Give me a break. Move on. Get another movie.”
