When just about every single superhero movie featuring a suave and/or snarky male hero is announced, Nathan Fillion’s name is almost never far behind on the lips of fans. Since breaking out in Josh Whedon’s Firefly, Fillion has been a perennial fan favourite actor and his hordes of admirers have eagerly been waiting for him to finally become a big screen superhero. And they may just have had their wish granted. Sort of.
Fillion is a close friend of James Gunn, writer/director of Marvel’s brilliant Guardians of the Galaxy and it’s upcoming sequel. Because of their friendship, Fillion actually had a cameo in the first film, though you would never know it as he only played a completely CG alien character in the Kyln space-prison who didn’t even have any lines.
But for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2, Gunn is giving his buddy a much more visible role as none other than Simon Williams, the ridiculously powerful Avenger also known as Wonder Man!
But before you start drooling about that possibility, you have to know that there’s a catch. In the Marvel Comics universe, Simon Williams is a retired superhero (who started off as a villain, became an Avenger and then sorta got pissed at everybody and did his own thing – going through a whole lot of costume changes along the way) who becomes a world-renowned big time movie star. And it’s the latter occupation that Fillion will be taking up here.
The film is currently shooting in Georgia, where a local cinema has been been given an MCU makeover with a big marquee announcing a Simon Williams Film Festival, and several of the posters on the wall show off Fillion as Williams as the star of these movies.
They’re a bit small and grainy, but the posters appear to show off movies that are a riff on actual real life titles. Oh, Rebecca could be a There’s Something About Mary ripoff, Akron is actually Marvel’s very own answer to Conan, Haxan 2 is a sequel to what could be a Warlock substitute, Toxic Janitor 2 is clearly a take on Troma classic Toxic Avenger (Gunn actually got his break working on Troma movies), and Tony Stark is none other than a Steve Jobs styled biopic. Yes, Nathan Fillion actually also played Tony Stark who is played by Robert Downey Jr!
It’s uncertain if GOTG Vol. 2 will feature more of Fillion than just these posters, though chances are these are nothing more than Easter Eggs for fans. BUT there’s no denying that this could be a very sly way of introducing the character who will then make his full superhero debut in some untitled Phase 4 movie. And thanks to the kickass artist BossLogic, we don’t even have to wait for that hypothetical movie to see just how he would look!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled for release on May 5, 2017.
Source: CBM
Last Updated: April 29, 2016