Darth Vader Almost Appeared in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ – No, Really

The Sith Lord almost fell out of Peter Quill’s bag

Did you know that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige — who, by the way, is a huge “Star Wars” nerd — almost had Sith Lord Darth Vader appear in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”?

At the “Spider-Man: Homecoming” junket, Feige told Mashable: “Always, we wanted to reveal at a certain point in the movie that Peter Quill was a human from Earth. And for a long time, I really thought it was going to be the greatest thing in the world that you’re in a spaceship and he’s talking to one of the alien characters and he knocks over his bag and one of the alien characters bends down and picks up — and it was a Darth Vader action figure — [and] goes, ‘What’s this?’”

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The Vader easter egg wasn’t a bid for corporate synergy, Feige contended, saying that he had the idea well before Disney acquired Lucasfilm.

“To make a long story short, James Gunn was basically like, ‘I got a better idea. What if he had a Walkman and listened to music?’ And it was like, ‘Oh, that’s a million times better,’” said the Marvel Studios chief exec. “Because the ‘Star Wars’ thing was just a nerdy reference in a single moment, and obviously, the conceit of the music redefined the entire movie,” he added.

The first “Guardians” film opened to $94.3 million in the U.S. and Canada in 2014 and went on to earn $333.2 million domestically and $773.3 million worldwide.

Meanwhile, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” has grossed nearly $852 million worldwide. Ittakes place approximately three months after the first film, as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) comes face-to-face with Ego (Kurt Russell), the living planet who is his long-lost father and who reveals why he left Earth after falling in love with Star-Lord’s mother.

Returning “Guardians” cast include Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan and Michael Rooker. Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki and Sylvester Stallone also joined the sequel. James Gunn also returned to write and direct and has signed on to do the same for a third installment. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is producing.

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