James Gunn Says He Had a Major Star in Mind to Play the High Evolutionary in GOTG Vol. 3 Before He Met Chukwudi Iwuji

James Gunn he’s now the head of DC movies, but before he made the leap, he completed his GOTG trilogy with the final film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was a great conclusion to the franchise and included a phenomenal cast, both returning and new. One of those newcomers included the actor Chukwudi Iwujiwho played the utterly repulsive and cruel villain, The High Evolutionary.

While Iwuji ended up being the only actor he read for the role, he wasn’t the first actor Gunn had in mind when casting who would play the part. In the film’s commentary track (via ComicBook), Gunn revealed that he nearly offered the role of the High Evolutionary to an established star that she was old enough to not have to audition for the part. The role appealed to many Hollywood stars, and Gunn says he had one in mind, though he doesn’t give up the name.

Until he saw Chukwudi Iwuji in action on the set of his series Pacifier. According to Gunn, it didn’t take long for him to realize that Iwuji was an amazing actor and someone he wanted to bring on board as the High Evolutionary. All he had to do was sell it to MCU head Kevin Feige.

“A lot of really famous actors wanted to play the High Evolutionary. I almost offered it to them…that would have been a big enough name not to audition. I almost offered this role to a big name actor, and then I met Chuk on the set of Peacemaker, and he really was such an amazing actor. He’s a trained theater actor, he 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 a chance. So I called Kevin Feige, I said, ‘I’ve got this guy, that’s who he is, I think he’s really amazing, I think we should give him a chance.’ So we auditioned him. We put him to the test: he’s the only person who’s been auditioned, the only person who’s read for the role, and it was just this incredible audition, and that’s how he got got the role”.

Gunn said he also revealed the news to Iwuji the day they filmed Peacemaker’s opening dance sequence, an anecdote the actor has previously shared. However, Iwuji remembers it a little differently: he was offered the role during the dance sequence, but he didn’t know he had it for sure until later. He previously explained to the comic:

“He said it that day, and I’ve never been so surprised in my professional life like that. That’s how he pitched it to me, and a few weeks later we auditioned and sent it to big man Kevin Feige and Kevin said ‘Yeah, that’s him.’ So that’s how it happened. I feel very lucky.”

He was great in the role. Very obnoxious, but that just means he did the job right. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 is now available on digital platforms on demand. It arrives on Blu-ray and DVD this August.