Earlier today, filmmaker James Gunn dropped a behind-the-scenes photo from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 confirming that work on the movie has begun. We speculated that the actor at the back of the image might be Peacemaker star Chukwudi Iwuji, and that's now been made official by the director in the Twitter post you see below.
Praising him as "one of the best actors I've ever worked with," Gunn notes that he "gave him the role most every big name actor in Hollywood wanted."
This has to mean he's playing a big name character from the comic books, but we have no idea who that will be. Lots of characters have been rumoured to appear, including Silver Surfer, the High Evolutionary, and Quasar, so your guess is good as ours in this instance. Whatever the case may be, both Marvel Studios and Gunn clearly have a lot of faith in Iwuji to deliver.
Gunn debunked the theory that Daniela Melchior had been cast as Moondragon, so it's looking like Iwuji could be the only actor the filmmaker brings with him from his time in the DC Extended Universe. He has, however, previously said that a lot of roles for the movie have been cast in secret.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will blast into theaters on May 5, 2023.