Lesser-known facts about the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

James Gunn’s third film in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise premiered last week to universal acclaim. The film was praised for its emotionally-charged narrative, the franchise’s trademark humour, and riveting action sequences. So for today’s Now You Know we take a look at some of the lesser-known facts about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 featuring our favourite motley crew of intergalactic heroes.

1. The film’s narrative features plenty of aliens, animals, and creatures created by the High Evolutionary. Understandably, the film required a lot of makeup and prosthetics. But did you know that the film broke the record for the most makeup appliances and prosthetics used in a single film? The film reportedly required around 23,000 prosthetics on 1,000 actors.
2. Speaking of prosthetics, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket Racoon is shown to be obsessed with people’s prosthetic body parts – the Winter Soldier’s vibranium arm being one among them. The film’s director James Gunn revealed on Twitter that Rocket's obsession comes from the fact that his former friends from the High Evolutionary's ‘Subject 89’ cages, Lylla, Teefs, and Floor, had prosthetic limbs.
3. Cosmo, the talking dog in outer space in the Marvel universe, is originally a male dog in the comics and in the acclaimed 2021 video game Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. However, Cosmo is gender swapped in the film as a tribute to the Russian dog Laika, who is widely regarded as one of the first animals in outer space.
4. It’s fairly well-known that H.G. Wells's iconic sci-fi novel The Island of Doctor Moreau served as an inspiration for James Gunn’s take on the High Evolutionary and his Counter-Earth. In the book, a shipwreck survivor lands on an island where an evil scientist conducts genetic experiments on animals in order to turn them into humans. But did you know that the book was also adapted into a film in 1932 titled, Island of Lost Souls.
5. Chukwudi Iwuji, who plays the role of the primary antagonist, the High Evolutionary, completed his screen test for the film while on the sets of the DC TV series Peacemaker, which is also helmed by James Gunn. Iwuji essays the role of Clemson Murn in the hit series starring John Cena in the lead. As a token of appreciation, Marvel let Gunn use the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 set and crew to film the Peacemaker season finale scene which featured the Justice League.
6. While fans have been dreaming of a DC/Marvel film crossover for decades, James Gunn may have sneaked in a minor crossover in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. During the final scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 where animals can be seen escaping, eagle-eyed fans would have noticed Eagly, Peacemaker’s pet bald eagle from the DC series Peacemaker, among the horde of animals.

Well that's the OTTplay Now You Know episode for today. Until the next one its your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez