Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn divulged details on his social media behind one of the more subtle sci-fi cameos in his latest Marvel superhero blockbuster.
Some of the most adamant supporters of the Guardians of the Galaxy films like to note the influences that James Gunn took from the deepest roots of the science-fiction genre to make them. There are your more overt and obvious influences from movies and TV shows like Star Wars and Firefly that are sprinkled out the Guardians franchise, but there are also fingerprints from all over the genre and pop culture in general that Gunn pulls from to pack his films.
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Some of those influences come in the form of clever cameos, such as the one that Gunn revealed on his Instagram account Thursday. In his latest entry in the "Guardians of the Galaxy Pic of the Day" series, Gunn took the time to praise the cameo of Ben Browder, known to sci-fi fans as John Crichton from early 2000's series Farscape and later, the final episodes of Stargate SG-1 where he joined the cast as new lead, Lt. Colonel Cameron Mitchell. Gunn is apparently a big fan of the show and approach the star to cameo as one of the pure Sovereign race who hunt the Guardians across space for stealing their sacred batteries. Given the success of the original Guardians, Browder was delighted to join the project:
#GotGPicoftheDay One of my favorite #scifi shows of all time was #Farscape. So when I ran into the show's star, Ben Browder, a couple of years ago at the Saturn Awards, I asked him if he'd make a cameo in #guardiansofthegalaxy. He thankfully agreed and can be seen as the Sovereign Admiral with Ayesha. He's a great guy. Here we are chatting Farscape #behindthescenes. #movies #movie #gotg #gotgvol2
Farscape ran for four seasons from 1999-2003 on the Nine Network, which is an Australian cable company. It followed an astronaut from Earth (Browder) who is thrust into adventures in an alien galaxy with a group of fugitive space travelers. The show was abruptly canceled following the fourth season, but the series has developed a cult following throughout the years, leading to various short-term reincarnations like an independently produced series finale and a comic mini-series. Word of a film adaptation of the series has been floated around for a few years, but is yet to get beyond the very early stages of pre-production.
Given the look of the show and the alien designs, you can see how the show rubbed off on the design of Guardians of the Galaxy. Some of the most creative elements of the two films are in the background creature design that the ragtag team comes across in their adventures, and Farscape featured designs and prosthetics from the Jim Henson Company. You can see these cooky sensibilities pay off in the bizarre worlds of the two properties, and it makes perfect sense that Gunn holds the show in such high regard to pay tribute to it in his own way during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
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Source: James Gunn