Marvel Confirms – Michael Rooker cast as Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy

Well, the word is out. Rumors have been hopping about for months. Rumors involving a raccoon named Rocket, a blue badass-looking warrior with a red mohawk, and James Gunn on a top-secret mission in the United Kingdom. But we can all rest easy now, the rumors are rumors no more.

San Diego Comic-Con has always been the launching pad for far more than just nerdy fun, and this year was no exception. That thing that everybody already knew about even though it hadn’t been made official is now official – Special Forces Commander Michael Rooker has been cast as Yondu in Marvel’s upcoming film Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by none other than James Gunn. The film will also star Djimon Hounsu as Korath, Lee Pace as Ronan, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Benicio Del Toro as the Collector, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, and Chris Pratt as Star-Lord. While many of the roles have been rumored for quite some time, the reveal at Comic-Con was Marvel’s first solid confirmation.

 

The cast of Guardians of the Galaxy made the journey from the UK, where filming has been in full swing for the last couple of months, to San Diego for a suprise appearance in the Marvel panel on Saturday July 20. They talked a bit about their roles, what it has been like to work with James Gunn, and Karen revealed her own beautiful bald head to trump Rooker’s mohawk. If you missed the live-streaming footage from the Marvel Q&A panel at San Diego Comic Con, you can check out the highlights below.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled for release on August 1, 2014. We’ll be there!