You know the Guardians of the Galaxy.
You know their friends, you know their enemies — but did you notice these cameos in Vol. 3?
While trying to get hold of Rocket's file on the Orgosphere, Nebula, Star-Lord, and
Gamora force a record keeper to access it for them.
Her name is Ura, and she is played by none other than emerging comic book adaptation
staple Daniela Melchior.
"He left out some important information, but that is the gist of it."
Melchior is relatively new to the Hollywood scene, but she's already made quite a splash.
Before taking on the role of Ura, she proved to be a standout in the 2021 film The Suicide
Squad, in which she played Cleo Cazo — better known as Ratcatcher 2.
Additionally, she voiced Gwen Stacy in the Portuguese dub of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Before the Guardians make it to the record room, they have to get inside the Orgosphere.
Unfortunately for them, OrgoCorp doesn't mess around when it comes to security.
Notably, an overseer named Kwol watches the various security screens that guard the entire base.
Kwol, who is last seen in Guardians Vol. 3 taking a brutal shot to the leg, was played
by James Gunn's wife and frequent collaborator, Jennifer Holland.
Kwol is actually Holland's second comic book movie role to date, as she has played Emilia
Harcourt, an agent of Amanda Waller, in the DC Universe.
She also appeared in 2019's Brightburn, the David Yarovesky movie that was co-produced
by Gunn.
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, otherwise
known as the Collector.
The streets of Knowhere have been cleaned up since then, but it's not perfect.
For example, Knowhere is still home to some strange and seedy individuals by the time
of Guardians Vol. 3 — including none other than Seth Green's Howard the Duck.
Howard can be seen playing a card game with a number of other characters, including Cosmo
and Kraglin.
Green has voiced the humanoid duck in both the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and the
animated Disney+ series What If…?
"You know what they say, when you're out of luck, always go duck."
"I'm pretty sure no one says that."
"Oh, they say it."
"Really?"
"Totally."
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's villain, the High Evolutionary, is a truly twisted individual.
In his pursuit of building the perfect world, he has created some truly monstrous beings.
Take the weaponized juggernauts Behemoth and War Pig, for example: a cyborg bird and pig
who are tasked with protecting the High Evolutionary and carrying out his wishes.
Reinaldo Faberlle provides the voice of Behemoth, and, of all people, Judy Greer voiced War Pig.
Greer is no stranger to the MCU, of course, as she played the ex-wife of Scott Lang in
the Ant-Man franchise.
Outside of the MCU, Greer has appeared in everything from Jurassic World to the latest
Halloween trilogy.
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Cosmo and Kraglin find themselves at odds over a petty squabble.
He calls her a bad dog, and she refuses to stop pestering him about taking it back, which
he's adamant he won't do.
Their ongoing feud eventually gets on the nerves of their fellow Knowhere residents.
One of the individuals who's sick of hearing about their animosity is the Broker, as played
by Christopher Fairbank.
Guardians of the Galaxy fans will likely remember him from the first installment in the trilogy,
in which Peter Quill attempts to sell him the Orb.
"You got the best eyebrows in the business."
Evidently, the Broker survived the destruction of Xandar by Thanos' forces and has since
started a new life on Knowhere.
Cosmo and Kraglin's feud annoys yet another notable individual in their card game: Bzermikitokolok,
the denizen of Knowhere, who makes his big screen debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3 courtesy of Rhett Miller.
Miller has been the frontman and lead singer of the country rock band Old 97's since the
group formed back in 1992.
Miller showed off his musical prowess in his first MCU appearance, at the beginning and
end of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The Disney+ special sees Bzermikitokolok and his band, Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen,
work hard to bring some Christmas cheer to Knowhere.
Unfortunately, they woefully misunderstand basically every aspect of the holiday.
"That is not part of the lore at all."
Pete Davidson and James Gunn have worked together before, as DC fans will likely remember; he
played Blackguard in The Suicide Squad.
For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the pair reunited again — albeit briefly, and in
a way that only die-hard fans of the comedian are likely 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.
However, as Gunn noted on Twitter, the actor very much put in the work, as Davidson both
voiced the character and physically portrayed him.
Gunn wrote:
"And my friend Pete not only voiced but actually came to visit us in Atlanta for a day and
played Phlektik on set."
Who doesn't love a good creator cameo?
Still, you'd be forgiven for missing James Gunn's part in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.
3, especially considering his character is anything but recognizable.
In fact, it seems that Gunn chose to portray the strangest minor character in the movie.
Gunn himself confirmed on Twitter that he provided the voice of Lambshank, the unsettling
yet polite scientific experiment encountered by Mantis when she frees the High Evolutionary's
prisoners at the end of the film.
Eagly the eagle is the lovable CGI bird of prey that appears prominently in James Gunn's
DCEU show Peacemaker.
As it happens, a very similar-looking bird turns up as one of the caged animals on the
High Evolutionary's ship 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.
Gunn confirmed:
"That was actually the real Eagly."
In almost any other occasion, the surprise presence of a DCEU character in a MCU movie
would be monumental news.
Then again, sometimes a bird is just a bird.