James Gunn Says That Was Not Beta Ray Bill In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Half the Guardians of the Galaxy fanboys in the audience swore they glimpsed Beta Ray Bill in The Collector's museum and the other half swore it was not the heroic, Korbinite. Director James Gunn settles the matter once and for all.
One of the hot topics back when Guardians of the Galaxy was first released into theaters was whether Mjölnir weilder Beta Ray Bill made a cameo appearance in The Collector's (Benicio Del Toro) collection. Well, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy now being available on digital, we have a clear look at the supposed cameo and a firm denial from Gunn. "That is totally NOT Beta Ray Bill," says Gunn.
Beta Ray Bill debuted in Thor #337 (Nov. 1983), being established as an alien belonging to a race known as the Korbinites. Beta Ray Bill was created by celebrate comic personality, Walt Simonson. Said Simonson, "I designed Bill deliberately as a monster, because I knew that people would look at it and go, "Oh my God, it's this evil guy." I deliberately wrote them so you weren't sure in the beginning if he was a good guy or a bad guy ... I chose the name for its alliterative qualities. Originally I was going to call him 'Beta Ray Jones' because I really wanted a common name. My feeling was Bill was Everyman for this alien race ... I deleted 'Jones' because ... there were too many Joneses floating around the Marvel Universe." After an initial rivalry with Thor Odinson for possession of Mjölnir , the alien warrior was granted a war hammer of his own by Odin, called Stormbreaker which is equal to Mjölnir in power and possesses the same prerequisites for wielding. Thor and Beta Ray Bill have been staunch allies throughout the pages of Marvel Comics for decades.