Since early 2015, James Gunn and Marvel Studios have been quietly casting for the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy and earlier today we finally saw our first result of that. Pom Klementieff has joined Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in a key mystery role and just as the trades reported the news so to did they reveal that Marvel almost cast another - a certain Oscar winner who turned down the role of the film's villain.

Matthew McConaughey revealed months ago that he had read film scripts from both DC Entertainment and Marvel Studios and a "rumor" quickly pointed to the possibility that Marvel was looking at the actor to potentially play Spider-Man antagonist Norman Osborn.

As it turns out Marvel had actually offered the actor the villain role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 but McConaughey turned it down "recently" according to Variety. The studio is actively searching to fill that role and should have something to announce in a matter of weeks. But it's clear they're looking for big name, high profile talent for the part.

As for who that villain is, there haven't been any major scoops or leaks regarding Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to date, but one possibility is that the villain is Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt) dad. We don't know what character that is yet, but it has been confirmed to not be the same character from Marvel Comics (J'son of Spartax). It's a safe bet it's someone else from the comic books though.

Gunn claims he's aiming to do something more original with the father-son relationship and to avoid similarities to Star Wars so it could end up being that Quill's dad is truly the "jackass" Yondu (Michael Rooker) calls him. All we know about this mystery character is that he's from some ancient race that hasn't been seen in ages, and is described as angelic by Quill's mother. This will be a major plot point in the film (which is described as a "story about fathers"), even if Star-Lord's dad isn't the role McConaughey was in talks for.

The role could be for another cosmic character, so share your thoughts and theories in the comments!

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy 3 & Other Marvel Phase 4 Musts

James Gunn is writing and directing the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel which stars Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Benicio del Toro, Pom Klementieff, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.

Captain America: Civil War will release on May 6, 2016, followed by Doctor Strange - November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 - May 5, 2017; Spider-Man - July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok - November 3, 2017; Black Panther - February 16, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 - May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp - July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel - March 8, 2019; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on May 1, July 10 and November 6, 2020.

Source: Variety