Michael Rooker Joins James Gunn's 'Guardians Of The Galaxy'

Director James Gunn and actor Michael Rooker have worked together more than once in the past, most notably in the horror film Slither. Now Gunn has added Rooker to the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy. The actor will play a character named Yondu, who is a game hunter native to Centauri IV, which in Marvel's continuity was the first planet system to be colonized outside of the Sun's solar system.

In the comics continuity, Yondu was a member of the original incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. While the character hasn't been reported as part of the core membership of the team that will be central to the film, it's possible that he'll be around as a mentor or other old-timer. Deadline reports that Yondu "eventually bands together with fellow fugitives to form the superhero team," but we don't know if that's how the site interpreted the character's comics history, or if he'll be an integral part of the movie's core team.

Furthermore, while the comics incarnation of Yondu has blue skin and sports a feathery mohawk, we don't know how he'll be styled for the film. At the very least, Rooker might like being painted blue better than he did having to wear a prosthetic arm for The Walking Dead.

Guardians of the Galaxy also features Chris Pratt as the hero Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as the alien assassin Gamora, and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. We still have to hear about actors for the "walking tree" Groot, and Rocket Raccoon.