James Gunn Wanted David Bowie to Cameo in 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Sequel
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (AP Photo/Disney - Marvel, File)
By Graeme McMillan
Amid the many tributes to David Bowie offered online Monday, following the singer’s death of cancer, was one from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, who revealed that a cameo appearance from Bowie was at one point under consideration for the movie’s 2017 sequel.
“Just a very short while ago [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige and I were talking about a cameo role in Guardians Vol. 2, and he brought up Bowie’s name,” Gunn wrote on Facebook. “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 [the news] more of a surprise.”
Gunn added, “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 [the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars] 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.“
Bowie was "an idol of mine, huge and omnipresent,” Gunn wrote, saying that his connection with the musician is a deeply personal one. “It was the music that was playing the night I hit bottom on alcohol and drugs as a very young person,” he explained. “I got sober that night, and those songs — "TVC15”, “Star”, “Suffragette City” - -are now deeply embedded in my psyche. They all have a frightening, almost-religious context in my personal history.“
Related: Legendary Artist David Bowie Dies at 69
Watch a video about Bowie’s legacy:
