Michael Rooker Talks 'Guardians of the Galaxy,' His Character's Connection to Star-Lord

During the promotional campaign for Guardians of the Galaxy, we've seen a ton of Star-Lord, Rocket and Groot, but very little of Michael Rooker's blue-skinned Yondu. Besides a quick glimpse of the character toward the end of the movie's most recent trailer, Marvel Studios has kept Yondu under wraps.

That changed on Wednesday, when USA Today sat down to talk with Rooker. The former Walking Dead star talked about Yondu and how he fit into Guardians of the Galaxy.

Yondu is connected to the charismatic outlaw at the heart of the movie, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). Years before he would become Star-Lord, Peter was an Earth boy who endured a tragedy and then was taken off his home planet by Yondu, the kid's surrogate father figure.

"He's feeling lost, vulnerable, defeated, emotionally drained and hurt, and here is Yondu in this light coming down and brings him up into the spacecraft and takes him away," Rooker says. "It might have been pretty horrific, but also a bit cool."

Yondu raises Peter alongside the Ravagers, an outer-space biker gang of sorts usually up to no good, and as an adult, Peter schemes with Yondu to steal a mystical and powerful orb.

"[Yondu's] not a good guy, not a bad guy," Rooker told USA Today. "There's hope and there's a heart inside Yondu. ... It's not so black and white — I should say blue and white. And I enjoy roles that are like that, even if they're not in some galaxy somewhere other than ours."

Rooker also noted that he was able to accept director James Gunn's offer to join Guardians of the Galaxy after Merle, his Walking Dead character, was killed off in the show's third season. Despite losing his role as Merle, things seemed to have worked out pretty well for Rooker. Getting a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe pretty much guarantees a few years (and films) of work these days.