Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Features A Mysterious Cameo From A Certain SNL Star
This post contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
It may very well be several years later than planned, but James Gunn has finally delivered his farewell to Star-Lord and the gang with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." That's not to say the franchise won't continue on in some capacity without Gunn behind the camera, but this iteration of the team has said its goodbyes. But not before one heck of a big, jam-packed finale that features many, many of Gunn's frequent collaborators in the mix. There were more than a few bit parts and cameos to keep an eye out for, but there is one from a former "Saturday Night Live" star that was particularly difficult to catch.
In the film's third act, the Guardians are trying to liberate all of the captives being held by the High Evolutionary. This includes lots of children, animals, and all sorts of bizarre creations. During this sequence, we see Mantis opening the cage for a particularly odd being designed by the evil being who fancied himself a god of sorts. Mantis was pretty grossed out by him, but still does her thing and lets him run free. The alien is named Phlektik, and it turns out the character was voiced by none other than Pete Davidson.
Indeed, Davidson provides the voice for the character, who only utters a small handful of words. And it's not like people are going to look at Phlektik and go, "Oh, look! There's Pete Davidson!" So this certainly wasn't a paycheck job. It's a fun cameo that becomes an equally fun bit of trivia.
Pete Davidson the movie star
Gunn, as a filmmaker, really likes to work with the same actors over and over again, when he can. Nathan Fillion, who also shows up in this movie, worked with him back in 2006 on "Slither," for example. It appears as though Davidson may become one of those actors who shows up time and time again in Gunn projects, as the two first worked together in 2021's "The Suicide Squad." Davidson played Black Guard, who ends up getting wiped out very early on in the movie's runtime.
Beyond this brief cameo in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Davidson is asserting himself more and more as a movie star in his post "SNL" days. Some of his other notable big screen credits include "The King of Staten Island," "Bodies Bodies Bodies," and the upcoming "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." He's also got a new show on Peacock in the form of "Bupkis." Even though it was just a cameo, Davidson does get to say he's part of the MCU now, adding that to his ever-growing, impressive resume.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is in theaters now.