Peacemaker Star is Joining the MCU as One of The Most Powerful and Complex Characters

Actor Chukwudi Iwuji said that his unrevealed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 role is “extremely powerful”, and is one of “the most complex characters we’ve seen in the freaking Marvel universe.”

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 47-year-old Nigerian-British actor teased some details about his secret MCU role.

“Powerful,” he said. “Extremely powerful. Complex. James and I were talking about it, but he’s certainly one of, if not the most complex characters we’ve seen in the freaking Marvel universe. So, he’s deeply complex and deeply powerful, and I hope intriguing. I hope I bring that to it.”

Iwuji was cast in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 back in November 2021, shortly after Will Poulter was cast as Adam Warlock. While we’ve known about Poulter’s role for some time, it looks as though Marvel is keen to keep details of Iwuji’s character firmly under wraps.

“Chuk has indeed joined the cast,” director James Gunn wrote on Twitter. “After working with him on Peacemaker I wasn’t about to let go of one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with – so I gave him the role most every big name actor in Hollywood wanted.”

Although details are scarce, it certainly sounds like a big role. With Iwuji elaborating that it’s an extremely powerful and complex character, it sounds as though he’ll be playing a major part in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Iwuji will be familiar to Peacemaker viewers, where he’s been playing Clemson Murn – and impressed Gunn enough to make the move from DC to Marvel for his next major project.

“I literally went from dancing on the soundstage to James saying, ‘Come over here, I want you to be in Guardians of the Galaxy 3’,” explained Iwuji. “And I remember it was one of the few genuine times of my life where I was speechless. I just looked at him and I was like, ‘Um, yes, okay.’ So, that’s how he offered it. I mean, we still had to go through Kevin Feige and certain people, but apparently, he’d already spoken to them, and they liked the idea of it.”

Recently, we learned that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will likely be the last film with the current Guardians line-up, and while little is known about the plot, it looks as though Rocket Raccoon’s backstory will play an important part.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is both written and directed by James Gunn, with Gunn also producing along with Kevin Feige.

Chris Pratt returns as Star-Lord alongside Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot, and Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon. They’ll be joined by Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Sylvester Stallone, Will Poulter, and Chukwudi Iwuji.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.