Michael Rosenbaum claims his character in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies was initially supposed to have much more screen time.
During a panel at Nashville Comicon on Saturday, the Smallville star opened up about playing Martinex, a small supporting role, in James Gunn’s sci-fi trilogy.
“The role was supposed to be a lot bigger. They cut a lot out,” Rosenbaum said. “You were supposed to see … it was written in the script to see Martinex’s powers, which were really cool. But they had so much to talk about in the script that they ended up cutting it out at the end. And there was some other stuff.”
However, the Impastor actor feels no animosity toward the director and is just grateful for the experience with the Guardians franchise and his longtime friend Gunn.
“It was fun,” he recalled. “For me, it’s like, I’m working with my friends, I get paid, I’m in a big Marvel movie, life could suck worse, you know what I mean? I’m very grateful.” Rosenbaum and Gunn have been close since working on the 2008 series PG Porn together.
Rosenbaum’s character debuted in 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 alongside Sylvester Stallone’s Stakar Ogord. They also briefly reappeared in 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
But before the actor landed the role of Martinex, he told The Hollywood Reporter in 2017 that he auditioned for Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the first Guardians.
When asked to recall what it was like screen testing for Gunn, Rosenbaum responded, “I was nervous as shit. (Laughs.) You’re sitting there with one of your best friends who’s directing a huge movie, who knows your ability and said, ‘I wanna see your take on Peter Quill.’ Now the pressure’s on. I just had to shut it off … I remember coming up with my own dance for the Star Lord dance scene. I had a great partner, it felt really organic right from the start.”
The role ultimately went to Chris Pratt, but Rosenbaum wasn’t disappointed at all. “You know, I didn’t really care about getting the part,” he added. “I didn’t know anything about the Guardians comics. I just wanted to do a good job for James.”
