Yondu Actor Explains Why His Look Changed In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

Yondu looks a lot closer to his comic book counterpart in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with more vibrant blue skin and a much taller mohawk. According to Michael Rooker, the very recognizable actor who plays the intense character, there's actually a pretty good reason for why his locks were much shorter in the first movie– it's just not quite what you would guess.

Rooker told Screen Crush that the first film had to eschew the tall mohawk because one of the ships had a ceiling that was too low. While the look worked in the Ravagers' ship, it didn't work in the other set, where Rooker would have had to duck and scrunch over in order to fit. "There was one sequence that had the lower ceilings that would have been disastrous," he said. "I would have knocked myself out several times over." Rooker adds that this may not be the real reason, saying that producers and directors "lie to actors all the time" about issues that really boil down to budget constraints. However, he notes that he likes the new hairstyle quite a lot better, saying, "It was so natural and so cool and awesome. You look at it and you go, 'Wow, now that's Yondu.'"

Despite his shorter hairstyle, Yondu was still a very important piece of the first film, with his most memorable moment coming when he used his whistle to control an arrow that ripped through a number of his opponents. Rooker says that he did the whistling himself, although it was enhanced in post production to make it louder and more echoey. "Many people want to know if I did the whistling and they love it, absolutely go nuts," he said. Buoyed by his popularity in the first film and by the sequel's deeper, more character-driven storyline, Yondu will get a much bigger role in the sequel (fitting with his bigger hairstyle). According to Rooker, while the relationship between Star-Lord and Yondu is fleshed out in the sequel, both he and Chris Pratt knew many of the details of the two's history while they were working on the first movie, even if the audience didn't yet. "Now, come full circle and we get to actually play out the inner monologues, so to speak," he said. "Our inner feelings are put out there on screen."

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due out on May 5, and while Yondu may or may not be in Avengers: Infinity War, a fully mohawked Rooker will likely show up as the character again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which James Gunn will return to write and direct.