Credit: Marvel Studios, New Line CinemaWhen you have a talented cast like the one in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), it only makes sense that they would have been up for some iconic roles before. However, two of these actors were actually up for the same terrifying part: Pennywise from Stephen King’s It.
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has been a massive success, and this isn’t just because of the direction and screenplay written by James Gunn or the excellent visual effects. The cast has also done a wonderful job in the film.
Guardians 3 stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel as Groot, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Will Poulter as Adam Warlock.
Every member of the cast is incredible and has played a variety of roles outside of the MCU. However, two of them were in contention for one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time: Pennywise from It (2017) and It: Chapter Two (2019). It must really take someone who has experience as a villain like Chukwudi Iwuji or in horror movies like Sean Gunn. So who is the scariest Guardian of the Galaxy? Well…
The Two Scariest Guardians Are…
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Surprisingly, the two scariest cast members of the entire Guardians of the Galaxy crew are Pom Klementieff and Will Poulter, especially based on their characters. But according to a video on TikTok, both actors were considered for the role.
Will Poulter was actually cast in the role but had to turn it down. “It was, like, a schedule thing. It’s very boring. There’s no fun story or anything.” As someone who played a powerful and innocent character so well, it’d be interesting to see his take on Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
@one.more.take This Guardian of the Galaxy Auditioned for Pennywise!?! #didyouknow #behindthescenes #guardiansofthegalaxy
The even more shocking choice for Pennywise was Pom Klementieff, especially since her character in Guardians, Mantis, is not scary at all. Fortunately, there is one person who saw her audition and thought she was incredible: James Gunn.
“Her audition for Pennywise was the greatest thing ever! It was so creepy and cool. She auditioned for Pennywise; she sent me the tape… It was amazing.”
While it definitely would have been interesting to see either of these actors take on the creepy clown, there’s no way you can be mad that they didn’t get the part. Bill Skarsgard was perfect as Pennywise, and it’s genuinely hard to imagine anyone else playing the horror icon. Besides Tim Curry, of course.
Do you think Pom Klementieff or Will Poulter would have made a good Pennywise? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!