Peacemaker star plays “powerful” character in Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Peacemaker, James Gunn’s cheerfully vulgar anti-superhero show starring John Cena as a man who loves peace so much he’s willing to commit mass murder to get it, is humming along on HBO Max. It’s found its fans, although the best thing about it might be the opening credits, which feature the characters — including Peacemaker’s eagle Eagly — performing a spirited dance number to Wig Wam’s “Do You Wanna Taste It.”

Among the dancers is Nigerian actor Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays Murn. Iwuji has a robust body of work, but his profile is about to get raised several notches. That’s because Gunn, who who also directs the Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel, asked him to join the cast of the upcoming threequel…and in a major role, no less.

“I was talking to Jennifer Holland [who plays Emilia Harcourt on Peacemaker] and James came up to us and said, ‘Do you two want to come see the last take of the sequence?’” Iwuji told The Hollywood Reporter.  “And then James said, ‘Oh, by the way, I want to talk to you about something….I want you to be [Iwuji omits character] in Guardians of the Galaxy 3,’ which I can’t say, sadly, because I can’t say the character.

"So that’s how it happened. I literally went from dancing on the soundstage to James saying, “Come over here, I want you to be in Guardians of the Galaxy 3.”"

After doing an intense screen test for Gunn and Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige, Iwuji had the part. But what part did he get?

Who does Chukwudi Iwuji play in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

Obviously, Iwuji wasn’t about to spill the beans on who he’s playing, but he did offer a hint or two. “Powerful. Extremely powerful. Complex,” he said of his character. “James and I were talking about it, but he’s certainly one of, if not the most complex characters we’ve seen in the freaking Marvel universe. So he’s deeply complex and deeply powerful, and I hope intriguing. I hope I bring that to it.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 already has its share of extremely powerful characters; for instance, we learned a while back that Will Poulter will be playing Adam Warlock, who was created to be the perfect being.

So who does that leave for Iwuji? Some fans think he’s going to play the High Evolutionary, a human being who evolves his intelligence to superhuman levels and eventually threatens the universe.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lands in theaters on May 23, 2023. The group will certainly have their hands full.

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h/t SyFy Wire