Marvel Studios put together an impressive set of cast for James Gunn’s sequel to 2014’s breakout hit – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. But there was this one Hollywood icon who sent shockwaves through the internet for his appearance in the movie. And it’s none other than Sylvester Stallone.
However, while casting the action icon Sylvester Stallone wasn’t a difficult task for James Gunn, it was certainly difficult for him to make the actor say his dialogues properly. Discussing how he cast Stallone as King Shark in The Suicide Squad, Gunn revealed the actor’s one mistake he repeatedly made while filming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Sylvester Stallone’s Role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Following 2014’s breakout hit Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn started working on its sequel featuring the same stellar cast and a few new additions. Among the new batch of actors who were hired for Vol.2, Gunn personally sought veteran action star Sylvester Stallone as a Ravager in Yondu’s (Michael Rooker) crew.
Offering Sylvester Stallone the iconic role of Stakar Ogord, who in the comics is known as Starhawk, James Gunn made a sizable impact on the plot of the film. Especially since Starhawk’s history is a complex one, considering that he is a cosmic superhero and founding member of the original Guardians in the Marvel Universe, his official presence in the movie made fans lose their minds.
Also read: “You exist. They do not”: DC Kills Off Major Superhero Team Ahead of James Gunn’s DCU Movie
Well, while Sylvester Stallone was offered a complex yet important role, casting him wasn’t the difficult task that James Gunn had to go through. The real difficulty came after filming began. According to Gunn, the actor repeatedly made one mistake that almost ruined the movie if not corrected. Thus, speaking with guest host Anthony Anderson on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the filmmaker opened up about it.
James Gunn Revealed Sylvester Stallone’s One Mistake
With Anthony Anderson beginning the conversation by asking James Gunn about his DC flick The Suicide Squad, which stars Sylvester Stallone as King Shark, the guest host asked how difficult it was to cast him. The question therefore took Gunn way back to his MCU movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where he first cast Stallone and worked with him.
“Sly is a friend of mine, we did a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 together.”
Recalling the 2017 MCU movie, James Gunn stated that it wasn’t difficult to cast Sylvester Stallone in the DC film, for he had previously worked with him in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. However, this conversation took Gunn back to the time when they were filming the Marvel film with Stallone playing Stakar Ogord, a Ravager in Yondu’s crew.
“He’s great, he’s one of the greatest actors I’ve ever worked with. He does everything wonderful except for say the word ‘Ravager’, which he kept saying ‘ravenger’ throughout the shoot…He couldn’t quite say it. And every time I had to correct him and say ‘it’s Ravager Sly’ and he goes and again says ‘and now the ravengers, and ravengers’.”
Discussing how frustrating it was for him to watch Sylvester Stallone repeat the same mistake over and over again, James Gunn mentioned confronting him and correcting him for the last time.
“Finally I went up to him and I said ‘Sly really we gotta say it right, it’s Ravager, not ravenger. And he goes ‘why didn’t you tell me?’ And that was after an hour and a half of struggle.”
Eventually, James Gunn got Sylvester Stallone to fix his mistake, and thereafter, they continued filming. This somehow bonded them together, which helped Gunn to hire him again for his DC film, The Suicide Squad.
