Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!
James Gunn’s final Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is filled with surprise actors, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has plenty of cameos with connections to the writer-director. As the last movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, the majority of the film’s focus is on the main Guardians characters. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (Vin Diesel) all have significant roles to play in Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s story, as the film’s ending wraps up their time spent together. There are plenty of other characters and actors who appear throughout the film’s runtime.
It has become quite common for MCU movies to include massive cameos over the years that bring back characters from across the franchise or introduce new ones for the future. James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies have largely refrained from using too many MCU cameos, as the filmmaker instead typically preferred to bring in actors that he personally had a history of working with and only using characters directly tied to his story. The combination of these two efforts means there are multiple Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameos, and several can be explained through their connection to Gunn.
15 Nathan Fillion as Orgoscope Guard Master Karja
Nathan Fillion cameos in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as Orgoscope guard Master Karja. He gets a sizable role during the sequence where the Guardians break into the Orgosphere. His Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo marks the continuation of a longtime collaboration and friendship between Fillion and Gunn. Nathan Fillion has appeared in every movie James Gunn has directed, a trend that started with his role in Slither. He then returned for Super, as an alien in Guardians of the Galaxy, cameoed as Simon Williams in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and played TDK in The Suicide Squad.
14 Jennifer Holland as Orgoscope Administrator Kwol
Jennifer Holland’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo as Orgoscope administrator Kwol marks another example of James Gunn utilizing those closest to him. She plays the administrator watching Orgosphere’s security cameras who Gamora later shoots in the leg. Jennifer Holland is James Gunn’s wife, and this marks the third straight project they’ve worked on together. He originally cast her as Emilia Harcourt in The Suicide Squad and then gave her a bigger role in Peacemaker season 1.
13 Daniela Melchior as Orgoscope Employee Ura
Another Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo with a special connection to James Gunn comes through Daniela Melchior’s appearance. She plays Orgoscope employee Ura, who Star-Lord attempts to charm to gain her help on the mission. Daniela Melchior’s cameo comes after she landed a breakout role as Ratcatcher 2.0 in The Suicide Squad. Working with James Gunn on the DC movie opened the door for her to join the MCU in a minor role to continue working with him.
12 Pete Davidson as Phlektik
Pete Davidson has a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo that is easy to miss. He plays a green alien named Phlektik who works for the High Evolutionary and briefly encounters Star-Lord. The popular comedian known from Saturday Night Live recently began collaborating with James Gunn thanks to The Suicide Squad. Pete Davidson played Blackguard in the DC movie, but his character died during the opening mission.
11 Michael Rooker as Yondu
Michael Rooker returns as Yondu once more thanks to his Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo. Rooker is no stranger to the MCU after playing Yondu in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies, although his character died in the second film. Yondu appears as a figment of Kraglin’s imagination near the end of the movie. This marks the continued collaboration between Michael Rooker and James Gunn, as he has appeared in Slither, Super, all three Guardians of the Galaxy films, and The Suicide Squad. Rooker also voiced Yondu in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and had roles in The Belko Experiment and Brightburn, which Gunn produced.
10 Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord
Sylvester Stallone returned to the MCU as Stakar Ogord for his Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo. Audiences were first introduced to the character thanks to his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and he returns to help the Guardians break into the Orgosphere. The legendary action movie star has developed a good relationship with James Gunn since originally playing Stakar. They continued to work together in The Suicide Squad, as Stallone voiced King Shark in the DC movie.
9 Michael Rosenbaum as Martinex T’Naga
Another close friend and longtime collaborator of James Gunn’s has a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo as Michael Rosenbaum appears as Martinex. He originally began playing the character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and returns as part of the Ravagers in the threequel. Rosenbaum and Gunn have been friends for nearly two decades and began collaborating when the actor played Charlie Brown in Gunn’s PG Porn. It was not until nearly a decade later that they worked together again as part of the MCU.
8 Judy Greer as War Pig
Judy Greer is one of the MCU actors Guardians of the Galaxy 3 recasts with a new role, but her cameo also has connections to James Gunn. She voices War Pig, one of High Evolutionary’s henchmen, in the movie after playing Maggie Lang in the Ant-Man franchise. However, Judy Greer has a history with Gunn that goes back decades to projects he helped write before becoming a director. This includes them working together on LolliLove and The Specials.
7 Linda Cardellini as Lylla
Linda Cardellini’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo as Lylla brings more James Gunn connections to the movie. She voices the loving otter who becomes Rocket’s best friend before the character dies in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Cardellini worked with Gunn for the first time on LolliLove, but he then cast her in the second movie he directed, Super. Between these collaborations, Cardellini also played Velma in the two Scooby-Doo movies that Gunn wrote.
6 Mikaela Hoover as Floor
Another close friend of James Gunn’s gets a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo as Mikaela Hoover voices Floor, the bunny experimented on by High Evolutionary. She began working with Gunn on PG Porn and has since appeared in the majority of the movies he’s directed. She had a small role in Super, a cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy, and played Camila in The Suicide Squad. Hoover also appeared in The Belko Experiment, which Gunn wrote, before working with him again in the MCU.
5 Seth Green as Howard the Duck
Seth Green’s MCU role as Howard the Duck continues with a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo, and it is all thanks to his friendship with James Gunn. They have been friends since the early 2000s and have worked together a few different times. Howard the Duck has appeared in all three of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, but Seth Green’s first role in a Gunn project was Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.
4 Christopher Fairbank as The Broker
Christopher Fairbank returns as The Broker for a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo. He can be seen playing a game on Knowhere during a brief scene. The actor originally was cast as The Broker for the original Guardians of the Galaxy. His role in the movie was to buy the Orb from Star-Lord, but he ultimately refused. The Broker had not been seen since this moment other than Fairbank playing him again for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
3 Rhett Miller as Bzermikitokolok
Rhett Miller also returns as Bzermikitokolok in a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo. The lead singer for the country rock band Old 97 made a surprise MCU debut in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as an alien who writes a song about what Christmas is like on Earth. Since the character appeared to live on Knowhere, his return as part of the gambling scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 provides a small connection between the projects.
2 Gregg Henry as Grandpa Jason Quill
Another special Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo comes with Gregg Henry’s return as Grandpa Jason Quill. The character is seen at the end of the movie and in Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s post-credits scene with Star-Lord on Earth. Gregg Henry has been with James Gunn since the beginning of his directing days after playing a role in Slither and Super. He has since appeared to varying degrees as Peter’s grandpa in each of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies.
1 James Gunn as Lambshank
James Gunn himself gets a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 cameo as the terrifying creature Lambshank. While he once again is responsible for any and all Groot dancing scenes, the director also provided the voice for the lamb-like creature experimented on by High Evolutionary that makes Mantis scream upon seeing it. This gives James Gunn a memorable cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
