Growing up in Nigeria in the 1980s, actor Chukwudi Iwuji and his siblings would devour stacks and stacks of comic books. The family would be gazillionaires now, he jokes, if any of them still had those original copies.
A fan of superhero movies as well, he remembers seeing Marvel’s game-changing 2008 “Iron Man” when it came out and feeling like scenes from the comics had literally sprung to life before him. Fifteen years later, it’s a bit surreal to now be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Credit: Getty Images for Disney
Credit: Getty Images for Disney
In the just-opened “Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 3,” director James Gunn’s finale of the trilogy, Iwuji stars as villainous The High Evolutionary. After Thanos was defeated in “Avengers: Endgame,” the Guardians are still getting used to life on Knowhere without Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is in a funk and raccoon Rocket (Bradley Cooper) is suddenly in danger as The High Evolutionary tries to capture him. Returning cast members include Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis and Vin Diesel as fan favorite Groot.
While 2014′s “Guardians of the Galaxy” was filmed in London, the 2017 follow-up was made at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County and the third at Atlanta’s Trilith Studios. The first two volumes have been commercial blockbusters, amassing over $1.6 billion in worldwide box office receipts, and the third is expected to be as well.
Iwuji’s maniacal villain is anything but subtle. In his pursuit of manufacturing hybrid creatures, he is dead set on capturing Rocket. “The High Evolutionary is a narcissistic sociopathic zealot, driven to perfect the world,” he says. “Rocket is someone he is obsessed with; it’s a fatal obsession. Rocket is the embodiment of what someone like him is after — trying to find the best in animals and humans and mix them together to make the perfect race.”
Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios
Credit: Courtesy of Marvel Studios
The franchise has always been high on comic hijinks but the finale has more emotional heft. The performer sees it as a fitting finale. “We hit the third act of our life and we have less to look forward to in a lot of ways. Everything cuts deeper, feels deeper, the pain is deeper. It’s an accumulation of so many years. All the things we’ve loved about these misfits is expanded here.”
Iwuji was working on the series “Peacemaker” with Gunn when he was asked if he would consider joining the franchise. Coming aboard such a high-profile project was intimidating but the director’s cheerleading to the fellow cast members made it easier.
The first person he met on set was Pratt, which was helpful. “You are walking onto this sound stage with all these A-listers. I don’t want to be the reason ‘Guardians’ fails because of being a bad villain. There was a real sense of camaraderie. It was the end for (the returning characters), but for me and Will Poulter (who plays artificial being Adam Warlock) it was the beginning of our journey. (The others) knew we were going to be a big part of finishing the trilogy.”
The actor began his professional career at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2001, at one time playing Buckingham to Kevin Spacey’s “Richard III” at London’s Old Vic Theatre. Now living in New York, he eventually segued into movies such as “John Wick: Chapter 2″and “News of the World” and television’s “The Split” and “Designated Survivor.” Iwuji has filmed in Atlanta three times now. The first was on The CW’s “Dynasty,” where he appeared in one episode as a creative director sought out by Fallon Carrington, and afterwards was two episodes of Barry Jenkin’s miniseries “The Underground Railroad,” where he starred as Mingo, a former slave who has purchased his and his family’s freedom.
“Dynasty” was a quick and light shoot, but “The Underground Railroad” had a much different vibe. With “Guardians,” there was a much lengthier stay. Filming began in November 2021 and lasted until May 2022. “I was in Inman Park and I know that if I were to come back I would want to stay there again. I love that part of town, the barbecue. Atlanta’s a fun town to live in.”
Earlier this week, he returned to the city for a press junket and made an appearance at a “Guardians” influencer screening.
Credit: Getty Images for Disney
Credit: Getty Images for Disney
Iwuji’s career has been long and one of his highlights was appearing as King of France in a 2018 BBC television version of “King Lear,” with a cast including Florence Pugh, Emily Watson, Emma Thompson and two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins.
On the first day of filming, he met the legendary actor just before their initial read through. They wound up talking about art and “Hamlet,” which Iwuju had just played in New York as part of The Public Theater’s Mobile Unit.
The two men chatted an hour and a half, their entire lunch break. “Suddenly, he started in with ‘To be or not to be, that is the question.’ I started doing it with him. By the time he had gotten to the eighth line, he had left me four lines behind. I told him I didn’t know he had played Hamlet and he responded that he never did; he just always wanted to and had read it. He did it better than me — and I had just played it. Then he did his read through and I called my agent after and told him I had just seen the greatest performance of ‘King Lear’ I’d ever seen. That tells you what the production was like.”
