Here's The Hilarious Reason James Gunn Can't Use A Certain Alien Race For GOTG, VOL. 2
Director James Gunn likes to put as many Marvel Comics character references into his Guardians Of The Galaxy scripts as possible, but while writing Vol. 2 he came to an unexpected roadblock when he asked if he could use an alien species known as the "Sneepers"...
The Sneepers were a race of humanoid (aside from their webbed feet, pointed eras, and three-breasted females) aliens created by Stan Lee back in the '60s, and first introduced in Tales Of Suspense #49. They've never been very prolific in the Marvel Comics Universe, but it seems James Gunn was planning on utilizing them as background characters for Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2 until he ran into a snag when he proposed the idea to the higher ups at Marvel Studios.
Usually when the idea of introducing a certain character or race is nixed it's because the rights belong to another studio, but not this time. Gunn shared the following on his Facebook page.
"While writing Guardians scripts I like to use the names of characters from the comics as much as possible - it makes watching the movie more fun for longtime Marvel fans (one of whom is me). Characters like Kraglin, The Broker, Bereet, and Garthan Saal all originally appeared in the comics, albeit sometimes in very different incarnations. Every name I use I have to run through the Marvel legal department. Lately, in the service of building out the Marvel cosmic side of the universe, I've been trying to clear names of alien species we see in the background. It's always a bummer when I can't use a name, usually because Fox or Sony or Hasbro or whomever owns the rights. But today I received a brand new reason for being advised against calling one of the alien species "Sneepers." "Sneeper is a word for clitoris in Icelandic."
A quick Urban Dictionary search proves him right. Ah well - there are plenty of other obscure alien races to choose from, so with a bit of thought I'm sure Gunn will have this background character situation licked in no time.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.