Ever since the Guardians of the Galaxy joined the ever-expanding rooster of MCU characters, Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Karen Gillan (Nebula), and Groot (Vin Diesel) have been reigning stars of all the intergalactic action. But they have rarely been alone as an eclectic mix of renowned actors has been weaving in and out of their little “galaxy” — it’s just that many have surprisingly forgotten the biggest names that have been a part of their ongoing (but soon to be wrapping up) saga.
With Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 promising to add more unexpected blink-and-miss appearances to the MCU, it is time to remember the ones that may or may not have escaped our notice:
Miley Cyrus
To tell the truth, even we were surprised when our rusty memory was jogged into remembering that THE Miley Cyrus has already had her MCU debut thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
In the mid-credits scene of the film, members of Yondu’s original team, the Ravagers, got together again after he died saving his surrogate son, Star-Lord. Of the many starry cameos — which are duly mentioned below — one was from Cyrus who voiced Mainframe, a robot, who joined the others in mourning Yondu and remembering how long they all have been apart by uttering the line: “I miss you guys so much.”
While Cyrus was not present in person in the film, what further contributed to fans missing out on her role was the fact that it went uncredited. Sadly, chances of her making another appearance down the line were recently erased with the announcement that Loki’s Tara Strong — who voiced Miss Minutes — will be the voice of Mainframe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Sylvester Stallone
Now, this is a cameo, which if fans have somehow forgotten, Gunn has ensured will be forever remembered as he has once again cast Stallone and his initial one-off character in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Stallone will be reappearing as Stakar Ogord in Vol. 3 after fleetingly playing the high-ranking Ravager who disliked Yondu at the beginning of Vol. 2, only to finally embrace him and remember his former teammate in the mid-credits scene detailed in the previous point.
Michelle Yeoh
When it comes to remembering the Oscar-winning star’s MCU presence, the only thing that comes to mind is her turn as Ying Nan, a guardian of Ta Lo in Shang-Chi and The Legend of Ten Rings. But what many may not remember is that it was not her MCU debut as the actress had already appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
She also cameoed in the film’s mid-credit scene, along with Stallone and Cyrus, as Ravager Aleta Ogord (wife of Stallone’s character) who echoes his agreement with coming back together as a team. Whether it was heavy makeup or the towering presence of Ving Rhames as Charlie-27, the Everything Everywhere All At Once star’s presence is not easily noticeable. Yeoh is now expected to make appearances as Ying Nan in future MCU projects, with Stallone back as Stakar and Mainframe also joining the foray — sans Cyrus — but we can hope to see Yeoh’s Aleta in the mix too.
Nathan Fillion
Oh, no no! We are not talking about his upcoming appearance as the shady Master Karja in Vol. 3. You see, Fillion has already appeared not once, but almost twice in the Guardians of the Galaxy films.
He voiced the freaky “Monsterous Inmate” in Guardians Of The Galaxy, who planned to “slather” Quill in Guna jelly when the team was in the Kyln prison. But before he could do more than verbalize his plans, Groot stuck his fingers up his nose, leaving him twisting and screaming in pain.
His next cameo would have been in Vol. 2. but not in person or even as a voice role. He would have appeared as fictional actor Simon Williams on movie posters like a Tony Stark biopic and a horror film titled Haxan 2. Sadly, the made-up posters didn’t make it to the final cut but Gunn decided to treat all Fillion fans and shared all of them on Facebook.
David Hasselhoff
Ah, we appear to be on a Vol. 2 roll here or something, but it’s all Gunn’s fault for putting so many star cameos in his second film!
So, David Hasselhoff. Well, he has appeared twice when it comes to the sequel — once in the film itself and also made his presence pretty obvious in the movie’s amazingly bonkers soundtrack, “Guardians Inferno.”
In the film, we learn Star-Lord’s father left even before he was born, and being a fan of Hasselhoff, Quill would tell kids how the actor was his father. Towards the end, when Ego reveals his nefarious plans and admits he planted a tumor in Quill’s mother that killed her, his form is riddled with holes when the enraged Guardian opened fire on him. In his anger, Ego while telling Quill how much he tried to get his Celestial powers the nice way, momentarily transforms into Hasselhoff to mock him before changing back.
But this is not the only WTF moment the Baywatch star gets with the Guardians. The ‘80s icon also stars in the film’s music video, “Guardians Inferno,” where he raps about the Star-Lord while decked out in a gold-white disco outfit and pelting the bonkers lyrics amid the cast of the film and the Marvel Universe alien band called The Sleepers.
While Nebula, Gamora, and Mantis channel Charlie’s Angels, the likes of Stan Lee and Gunn also pop up in the campy video.
Glenn Close
The three-time Tony award winner is seen in the first Guardians of the Galaxy as Nova Prime Irani Rael, the leader of the Nova Corps, who joins hands with the Guardians to safeguard Xandar against Ronan and also kept the Orb (which housed the Power Stone) on the planet to keep it safe. When Thanos set out to find the Infinity Stones, Xandar was his first step and in his successful attempt to secure the Power Stone, he destroyed the Nova Corps and decimated half the population on the planet.
Close also filmed a cameo for Vol. 2, which didn’t make it to the final cut. But looking forward to a future appearance — unless it is a flashback — might be a futile hope as Nova Corps was the first and only line of defense separating Thanos from the Stone. To expect that any one of them managed to escape the massacre would be pointless.
John C. Reilly
A similar fate can be predicted for John C. Reilly, who appeared as Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey in Guardians of the Galaxy. There have been unconfirmed reports of the studio planning to give the Nova a proper MCU introduction via a special, though there has also been chatter about a theatrical film or a Disney Plus series. While Marvel is yet to accept or refute these reports, if it is indeed true, we can expect Close and Reilly — whose character was promoted to Denarian — to reprise their respective roles.
Rob Zombie
The cult filmmaker-singer-actor starred in the first and second films, but both times, his character was heard off-screen. In fact, there has so far been no confirmation whether he played the same character or has had two different roles in the MCU.
Zombie was first heard as an unseen Ravager navigator in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and marks a similar presence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, when his voice is heard while Yondu’s lieutenant, Taserface, led a mutiny and takes over the ship.
These names are not the only starry cameos that have decked the world of the Guardians. Peter Serafinowicz appeared in the first film as Garthan Saal, who was a Denarin in the Nova Corps and killed during the Xandarian Massacre; Alexis Denisof as The Other, Thanos’ personal servant who plotted with Loki in The Avengers and then, Ronan the Accuser in Guardian of the Galaxy until the latter snapped his neck in anger; Seth Green as Howard the Duck in multiple MCU projects as well as the first two Guardians films; Maria Bakalova as the voice of Cosmo the Space dog; Ving Rhames as Charlie-27 as well as Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex of Stakar’s team in Vol. 2, with the latter also set to appear in Vol. 3.
Though Disney didn’t begin the week on a good note — seeing that it’s stuck between The Little Mermaid and the writers’ strike in America — the infinite number of cameos that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is bound to have will hopefully give its subsidiary — i.e. Marvel Studios — a reason to bask in the positive spotlight and shake off the Quantumania-induced backlash at last.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters this May 5.
