With both superhero movies being helmed by James Gunn, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and DC’s The Suicide Squad actually share multiple actors. James Gunn has quickly become one the most exciting directors in Hollywood following his miracle successes with Guardians of the Galaxy, only elevating his superhero auteur status with the gory, R-rated The Suicide Squad (2021). Thankfully for DC, Gunn was the center of a controversial choice by Disney when he was fired as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s director due to a resurfacing of old tweets. Marvel came around and rehired him for GOTG 3, but not before DC quickly picked him up to revive their controversial Suicide Squad property.
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) was James Gunn’s first launch into blockbuster superhero movies, though Gunn wrote an unmade Silver Surfer screenplay from back in 1999, introducing a forgotten group of comics heroes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The resounding success of the first movie gave Gunn more leniency in his future projects, bringing in notable actors and less conventional fun into the superhero genre. If anyone was to be trusted with successfully pulling off The Suicide Squad’s oddball band of villains from the DCEU, it was James Gunn.
While it may seem counterintuitive for a major Marvel director like James Gunn, and even Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi in his The Suicide Squad cameo, to be helming significant projects in the DCEU, it means the competing superhero franchises are starting to gain equal traction. The crossover also indicates that the talent of both actors and directors has more freedom to find a wider variety of audiences for the material they love to produce. With Marvel and DC starting to look more and more alike, here’s a breakdown of all of the Guardians of the Galaxy actors that appear in Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
Michael Rooker
While Michael Rooker stars in both of James Gunn’s most popular superhero movies, he’s done a lot more; he’s actually starred in all of James Gunn’s feature films. Michael Rooker played an integral role in Guardians of the Galaxy as Yondu Udonta, Peter Quill’s adoptive father and intergalactic thief. Yondu was tragically killed off in GOTG Vol. 2 when he sacrificed himself to save Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians. Rooker has a small role in Gunn’s new feature, The Suicide Squad, as Savant/Brian Durlin, the man in the opening sequence who maliciously kills a bird in his cell. Savant is then recruited for the first Suicide Squad Task Force X team, where they find out their mission was a diversion for team 2. Savant, along with almost all the rest of his villain colleagues, is killed on Corto Maltese’s beach when Amanda Waller blows up his brains after he tries to flee the carnage. Aside from being killed off in both Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad, Rooker is notable for his role as Merle Dixon on The Walking Dead.
Sylvester Stallone
Following his multi-decade notability for creating and portraying the titular role in the Rocky franchise, Sylvester Stallone began to dabble in superhero flicks. Stallone first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ravager leader Stakar Ogord in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Stallone’s role ended amicably between himself and the Guardians at Yondu’s memorial, suggesting he may return for Gunn’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Although Stallone’s image isn’t seen in The Suicide Squad, he voices the lovable imbecile anthropomorphic shark Nanaue/King Shark. Nanaue has been lauded as one of the most enjoyable aspects of The Suicide Squad’s main team, so after surviving the team’s battle with Starro, audiences are hoping Stallone and King Shark will return for HBO Max’s Peacemaker spinoff series.
Sean Gunn
Sean Gunn has recently become notable for his whacky collaborations with his older brother, director James Gunn. Sean seems to enjoy helping out his brother’s big movies, typically taking on multiple on-camera and behind-the-scenes roles. For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, Sean portrayed Yondu’s Ravager clan first mate Kraglin Obfonteri onscreen, while also serving as the motion-capture performer for Rocket and Thanos. Sean reprised his role as Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, though only performed the motion-capture for Rocket. The Suicide Squad has been celebrated for its eccentric characters, but the minor character who gained the most attention was the miraculously alive villain Weasel, for whom Sean Gunn performs the motion-capture and voicing. In another dual role, Sean also has The Suicide Squad cameo as Batman villain Calendar Man, who is seen yelling at Polka-Dot Man in Belle Reve. Before joining his brother’s projects, Sean Gunn was best known for playing the oddball townie Kirk in Gilmore Girls.
Nathan Fillion
Considering Nathan Fillion notably helmed the Firefly franchise as Captain Mal Reynolds, it’s surprising James Gunn places him in such small roles for his films. Fillion had a minor cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy as the voice of “Blue Alien Prisoner,” which seems a bit below Fillion’s paygrade. He and Gunn obviously have a friendship with their multiple collaborations, so Gunn brought Fillion back for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Wonder Man/Simon Williams, though his one scene was ultimately cut from the final film. In another surprisingly small role, Fillion plays TDK (The Detachable Kid) in The Suicide Squad, one of the Task Force X team 1 villains who is killed after his floating arms are obliterated by the Corto Maltese soldiers.
Pom Klementieff
The French actress Pom Klementieff, who mostly worked on various French dramas before James Gunn hired her, ended up playing an important role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Mantis. Klementieff joined Star Lord’s crew in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Mantis, a ward of Peter Quill’s villainous father, Ego, who ends up forming a friendship with Drax and is brought aboard the team as a new Guardian. In a blink-or-you’ll-miss-it cameo, Pom Klementieff appears in The Suicide Squad as one of the dancers in the nightclub where the squad tries to find The Thinker. If she wasn’t easy to spot in the first round of watching, it’s probably because she’s not wearing her memorable alien getup from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Steve Agee
Steve Agee is the only dual The Suicide Squad/Guardians of the Galaxy actor who was already part of the Suicide Squad property prior to James Gunn’s direction. Agee is notably good friends with James Gunn outside of their collaborations, so Gunn brought him onto Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Gef, the goggle-wearing Yondu Ravager Clan member who ends up siding with Taserface over Yondu. Though better known for playing the Belle Reve Penitentiary Warden John Economos in 2016’s Suicide Squad and the 2021 sequel, Agee also served another role for The Suicide Squad as the on-set actor for King Shark. Agee is also one of the only The Suicide Squad actors confirmed to reprise his role for the Peacemaker series.
