Matthew McConaughey reason he turned down Guardians of The Galaxy

Way back in October 2015, a report surfaced that Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn wanted to bring on Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey to play a villain in his highly-anticipated sequel Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but the actor turned down the role.

The reason, because the actor was in talks to join Sony’s The Dark Tower adaptation, which is set to hit theaters on March 24, 2017. Although at the time it wasn’t clear if he would play Randall Flagg, a.k.a. The Man In Black, or Roland Deschain, a.k.a. The Gunslinger, with the actor eventually confirmed as Flagg.

Today the actor himself sheds some light on why he turned down a sequel to a huge Marvel hit, in favor of a highly-anticipated adaptation.

The road from rom-com movie star was a hard slug, but Matthew McConaughey has forged one hell of a comeback trail, dubbed by some as the “McConaissance,” winning an Oscar for his work in the critically-acclaimed Dallas Buyers Club, while also starring in box office hits (Interstellar, Magic Mike) and critically-acclaimed television shows (True Detective).

“I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was ‘It’s successful, and now we’ve got room to make a colourful part for another big-name actor.’ I’d feel like an amendment. The Dark Tower script was well written, I like the director and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black-a.k.a. the Devil-in my version of this Stephen King novel. We’ve done the first one. It’s a fantastic thriller that takes place in another realm, an alternate universe, but it’s very much grounded. For instance, the gunslinger’s weapon isn’t a lightsaber or something; it’s a pistol. I enjoyed approaching my character as if I were the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them.”

The exact role Matthew McConaughey was up for in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was never confirmed, but new characters that will be introduced in this sequel include Chris Sullivan’s Taserface, Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha, Pom Klementief’s Mantis, Tommy Flanagan’s Tullk and Kurt Russell’s Ego the Living Planet. Sylvester Stallone also has what director James Gunn describes as a “small but important role” in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, although that role has yet to be fully revealed. Both Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and The Dark Tower are shaping up to be two of 2017’s most anticipated movies, although it remains to be seen how they will fare at the box office.

Hopefully we’ll get to see new footage from both of these highly-anticipated movies in the near future, folks.