After crafting a space oddity of his own in 2014, director James Gunn today revealed he had early plans in place for a David Bowie cameo in upcoming sci-fi sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Gunn took to his ever-active Facebook page to express his profound sadness of Bowie’s death, who passed away late last night following an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 69. As the filmmaker admitted, the legendary rock and roll star had been in poor health for some time, though both he and Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige had been in contact with the late icon about a potential role.
“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. 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.”
Nevertheless, Gunn hinted at the possibility of commemorating David Bowie in a different way in Guardians 2, revealing that Marvel currently holds the rights to a song from the artist’s acclaimed album Ziggy Stardust. Should this feature in the film, Bowie will appropriately be the only artist to feature on both Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 and Awesome Mix, Vol. 2.
“Bowie was an idol of mine, huge and omnipresent. 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.”
David Bowie passed away yesterday evening after an 18-month battle with cancer. He was 69 and will be sorely missed. Guardians of the Galaxy 2, meanwhile, is on course for a release on May 5, 2017.
