It’s a strange world we’re living in, one where social media has made celebrities incredibly accessible to fans and admirers alike. It’s however an entirely different thing for a director to consider a fan casting request for his upcoming movie, even more so when said director happens to be one of the big-shots of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s exactly what seems to have unfolded on Twitter with James Gunn, Mark Hamill and a fan.
It began with the fan in question Ian Fee tweeting a request to James Gunn, requesting him to consider Mark Hamill for a role in his upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Surprisingly, Gunn entertained the request, offering to have a talk with the Star Wars actor over a cup of coffee.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/967919700272340992
What followed next is where things got really exciting. Hamill responded in the affirmative, jokingly stating that he’s an unemployed actor looking for work. That joke might have had to do with how Star Wars: The Last Jedi played out, leaving little for Hamill’s Luke Skywalker to do in the upcoming installments.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/967991001347272706
The two then decided to take it to Direct Messages and we’ve heard nothing from then since. The notion of both working together is exciting though.
DM me for my contact info if you're serious.
(& a good neighbor)
xoxo, mh— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) February 26, 2018
Just followed you. Is that how DM's work?
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) February 26, 2018
Admittedly, Gunn has been very active on social media (both Facebook & Twitter). He often shares insights and behind the scenes details about the process of working on his films and is also quite responsive to fan queries in the comments and tweets. It’s probably natural then for him to extend his social media use to approaching actors for his movies directly, even though it feels a bit surreal.
Gunn also held a Facebook Live Q & A earlier this week, in which he declared that the upcoming Guardians will be “very, very, very different from the previous two movies”. Make what you will of that but it certainly seems like Gunn has things planned out about where he wants to take the final chapter in the trilogy. With the Guardians set to be used in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4 first though, it could be a while before Gunn is able to lock down plans for using them without disrupting the shared universe continuity.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 3 will be "very, very, very different," teased director @JamesGunn earlier today…
(via Gunn's FB Live) pic.twitter.com/9xuv7J0gEt
— MCU – The Direct (@MCU_Direct) February 27, 2018
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is slated to hit theaters on May 1, 2020.