Every Cameo You May Have Missed In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3

The following article contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"

To send off the beloved space-faring heroes proper, Marvel Studios and director James Gunn have released "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." It's action-packed, brings plenty of laughs, and will get you emotional, hence why it has rightfully become the talk of the Marvel Cinematic Universe fan community. Between the introduction of Rocket Raccoon's (Bradley Cooper) childhood pals, Lylla (Linda Cardellini), Teefs (Asim Chaudhry), and Floor (Mikaela Hoover) to the state of the titular team by the time the credits roll, there's a lot for fans to discuss. Not to mention, the threequel is loaded with guest stars.

Some of the film's many cameos were pretty obvious. For instance, Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogord and his Ravager companions such as Mainframe (Tara Strong, taking over for Miley Cyrus) and Martinex T'Naga (Michael Rosenbaum) return after debuting in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Then there's Nathan Fillion, who gets a good amount of screen time as Master Karja: the strict leader of the Orgosentries tasked with protecting OrgoCorp's base of operations, the Orgosphere. Despite his death in the previous film, Michael Rooker's Yondu even briefly stops by as a manifestation in Kraglin Obfonteri's (Sean Gunn) mind, guiding him on how to use the Yaka Arrow.

Of course, these weren't the only cameos in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Here are the others that you understandably could've missed upon first viewing.

As the Guardians make their way to the Orgosphere in their desperate attempt to save Rocket's life, they have to be stealthy. The station is heavily guarded and they lack backup, so they try to be as careful as possible. While trying to get ahold of Rocket's file among a sea of them, Nebula (Karen Gillan), Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), and Gamora (Zoe Saldaña) have to get the record keeper to access it for them. We learn that her name is Ura, and she's played by none other than emerging comic book adaptation staple Daniela Melchoir.

Melchior is relatively new to the Hollywood scene, but she's already made quite a splash. Before taking on the small role of Ura — one that sees her flirted with by Star-Lord and threatened by a gun-toting Gamora — she proved to be a standout in the 2021 film "The Suicide Squad." In the James Gunn-directed DC Comics adaptation, she plays Cleo Cazo, better known by her alias Ratcatcher 2. Additionally, she voiced Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Gwen, in the Portuguese dub of the animated Marvel movie "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."

Before the Guardians make it to the record room, though, they have to get inside the Orgosphere. This requires them to leap onto the exterior of the station in spacesuits, cut a hole through the wall, and safely make it inside wearing OrgoCorp uniforms to blend in. Unfortunately for them, OrgoCorp doesn't mess around when it comes to security. They have literal eyes all over the structure with an administrator named Kwol overseeing the various security screens. This role went to James Gunn's wife and frequent collaborator, Jennifer Holland.

Kwol — who is brutally shot in the leg by Gamora the last we see of her — is actually Holland's second comic book movie role to date. In the DC Comics productions "The Suicide Squad," "Peacemaker," "Black Adam," and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," she appears as one of Amanda Waller's (Viola Davis) agents, Emilia Harcourt. She also notably appears in 2019's "Brightburn" from director David Yarovesky. Holland signed the dotted line to play Ms. Espenschied in the horror film that Gunn took up the position of co-producer on.

The main villain of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), is a truly twisted individual. In his pursuit of creating the perfect species and the perfect world for it to inhabit, he has created some truly monstrous beings. Still, not all of those who turn out to be imperfect in his eyes are abandoned or killed at his request. Just look at the weaponized juggernauts Behemoth and War Pig: a cyborg bird and pig who are tasked with both protecting the High Evolutionary and carrying out his wishes.

Reinaldo Faberlle provides the voice of Behemoth, and, surprisingly, Judy Greer is the person behind War Pig. Greer is no stranger to the MCU, though her other role couldn't be more different from her "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" one. She has played the ex-wife of Scott "Ant-Man" Lang (Paul Rudd) and the mother of Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), Maggie, in the "Ant-Man" franchise. Outside of the MCU, Greer has appeared in everything from "Jurassic World" to the latest "Halloween" trilogy to "Archer," to name some of her many acting credits.

The Guardians' base of operations, Knowhere, is an odd place, to say the least. Situated inside the head of a dead Celestial, it was previously run by Taneleer Tivan (Benicio del Toro) — known also as the Collector — and housed his vast collection of artifacts. Though the streets of the galactic locale have been cleaned up some, it hasn't left its roots behind. It's still home to some strange and seedy individuals by the time of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," as evidenced by the presence of Seth Green's Howard the Duck.

Among other Knowhere denizens, Howard can be seen playing a card game that includes the likes of Cosmo (Maria Bakalova) and Kraglin. Green has voiced the humanoid duck several times in MCU productions, appearing in all three "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies for no longer than a few seconds to deliver no more than a couple of lines. He gets a bit more to do in the animated Disney+ series "What If...?", but all in all, he hasn't factored into the franchise much. Hopefully, that will change down the road so the "Family Guy" and "Robot Chicken" actor gets to flesh out the character more.

Throughout "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," Cosmo and Kraglin are at odds over a petty squabble. He called her a bad dog, and she refuses to stop pestering him about taking it back, which he's adamant he won't do. This unnecessary yet funny feud eventually spills over and starts to get on the nerves of their fellow Knowhere residents. During their aforementioned card game, Cosmo keeps going on and on about how much being called a bad dog hurt her feelings. Eventually, other folks can't help but comment on it.

One of these vocal individuals who's sick of hearing about their animosity is the Broker, as brought to life by Christopher Fairbank. Longtime "Guardians of the Galaxy" fans will likely remember him from the first installment in the trilogy. In said film, he's operating on Xandar when Star-Lord enters his business hoping to sell the Infinity Stone-housing Orb. However, the Broker couldn't be less interested upon learning of the menacing Ronan the Accuser's (Lee Pace) interest in the artifact. Evidently, he survived the destruction of Xandar by Thanos' (Josh Brolin) forces and has since started a new life on Knowhere.

Cosmo's complaining of Kraglin's treatment of her isn't only limited to the ears of the Broker and Howard the Duck. Another notable individual trying to play cards with them as she expresses her frustration with him is Bzermikitokolok, who makes his big screen debut in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" courtesy of Rhett Miller. Miller isn't an actor, but rather finds his artistic roots in music. He's been the lead singer of the country rock band Old 97's since the group formed back in 1992.

Miller got to let his musical prowess shine in his first MCU appearance, which occurred in "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special." The Disney+ special sees Bzermikitokolok and his band, Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen, work hard to bring a little Christmas cheer to Knowhere. They woefully misunderstand basically every tenet of the holiday, but the songs "I Don't Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)" and "Here It Is Christmastime" turn out to be smash hits with the townsfolk.

Pete Davidson and James Gunn have worked together before, as everyone who's seen the director's "The Suicide Squad" – where Davidson portrays Blackguard — no doubt remembers quite vividly. In "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the pair reunites again — although briefly, and in a way that only die-hard fans of the comedian have a chance to recognize. Davidson plays a character called Phlektik, an alien guard of the High Evolutionary. 

Because Phlektik is a member of an undisclosed alien species, it's obviously very difficult to tell that Davison is there ... or if he is at all. However, as Gunn noted on Twitter, the actor very much put in the work, despite the role's blink-and-you-miss-him nature. Davidson both voiced the unrecognizable character and also physically portrayed him. "And my friend Pete not only voiced but actually came to visit us in Atlanta for a day and played Phlektik on set," the director wrote.

Who doesn't love a good creator cameo? From Quentin Tarantino to Alfred Hitchcock, auteur-type filmmakers have been known for inserting themselves into their own movies in various capacities. James Gunn certainly fits the auteur bill from the "director-writer with a huge amount of creative control" standpoint, but this being ... well, James Gunn, his cameo in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" was probably never going to be a straight-laced "Look, there he is, we recognize his face!" type of deal.

As such, it may be no surprise to the fans that Gunn instead chose to portray what just might be the most unique minor character in the movie. As he confirmed on Twitter, the man behind the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy provides the voice of Lambshank, the unsettling-looking but extremely polite scientific experiment Mantis (Pom Klementieff) encounters while freeing the High Evolutionary's prisoners near the end of the film.  

Yes, this one might be pushing the limits of the term cameo a bit. Then again, since James Gunn himself calls it that, who are we to argue? 

Eagly the eagle is the lovable CGI bird of prey that appears prominently in James Gunn's DCEU show "Peacemaker" as the titular vigilante's (John Cena) pet. As it happens, a very similar-looking bird turns up as one of the all too many caged animals in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." When Gunn took a moment to answer some fan questions on Twitter, one viewer took the opportunity to question whether the two birds' similarities were intentional. "That was actually the real Eagly," Gunn replied, almost casually confirming the most unexpected crossover character's presence in "Vol. 3." 

In almost any other occasion, the surprise presence of a DCEU character in a MCU movie would be monumental news. However, sometimes a bird is just a bird. After all, Gunn notoriously loves a good Easter egg, and since his work history has been extremely DC-themed both before and after "Vol. 3," it's only natural that he'd sneak in a little something from his work over the fence. As such, fans probably shouldn't hold their breath for the Eagly Shared Cinematic Universe.