James Gunn Reveals Which Marvel Character Was Almost in GOTG 2

Writer/director James Gunn reveals that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 almost marked the Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of Darkhawk. Created by Tom DeFalco and Mike Manley, Darkhawk made his Marvel Comics debut in his self-titled series beginning 1991 that would run until 1995, with the character going on to appear in various other titles, limited-run series and multi-title events. Darkhawk’s real identity is Christopher Powell, a New York teenager who discovers a mysterious amulet that allows him to switch places with a powerful android granting him a wide array of superhuman abilities, including energy manipulation, teleportation, flight, night vision and accelerated healing.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 picked up sometime after the events of the previous film as the titular team find themselves marooned on an alien planet after crossing the Sovereign race and are met by Peter Quill’s long-lost father, the ancient Celestial known as Ego. Chris Pratt once again led the cast of the MCU sequel alongside Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker and Karen Gillan and marked the franchise debuts of Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 once again received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for Gunn’s direction and script, the visual effects, soundtrack and performances from the cast, and it was a box office hit, grossing over $863 million against its $200 million budget, outgrossing its predecessor’s $772 million haul.

As production continues on the MCU threequel, Illuminerdi host Jezzer Zeus took to Twitter to pitch James Gunn the idea of making Darkhawk his next project, should he be open to returning to the world of Marvel after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn responded to the idea with the reveal that Darkhawk was actually almost in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, though didn’t dive further into how. See Gunn’s response below:

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Though initially working as a street-level hero, Darkhawk would join Marvel’s roster of various cosmic-based superheroes in his later years, even working alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy on multiple occasions, though believed he wasn’t good enough to join the team. While he has made a non-speaking appearance in the ’90s Fantastic Four animated series, Darkhawk has yet to properly appear in a cinematic Marvel adaptation. The closest Darkhawk has come thus far is a direct reference made to the character in Square Enix’s Guardians of the Galaxy video game, in which players can find a file for Powell/Darkhawk in the Nova Corps’ Criminal Files while his mystical Raptor amulet can be found in the Collector’s Emporium.

Given Gunn doesn’t explain why Darkhawk was ultimately left out of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it’s difficult to determine how the hero would have fit into the story, especially with its already full roster of comics characters making their MCU debuts. With Marvel Studios continuing their dive into the world of cosmic heroes for the MCU and Gunn teasing that the long-awaited Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will include one of the greatest Marvel heroes, the door does seem open for Darkhawk to get the proper big screen treatment in the future. Only time will tell if Gunn decides to sneak Darkhawk into his MCU swan song when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.