GOTG Vol 3's High Evolutionary Actor Has Very Interesting Thoughts About His Future In The MCU
Spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"
Chukwudi Iwuji, the actor who brought villainous life to the High Evolutionary in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," wants to see his character return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His final scene in the film depicts the Guardians brutally beating him within an inch of his life for all the pain and trauma that he caused Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) to suffer, but they left him notably alive and, according to Iwuji, without that final blow, anything is possible. Despite his body being left broken, and despite his ship exploding around him, Iwuji is tentatively hopeful that the High Evolutionary can rise from failure to torture animals again (something Iwuji himself could barely stomach).
Iwuji's confidence stems from a scene which, according to the actor, was shot and then subsequently cut. He claims that this scene would have shown audiences for certain that the High Evolutionary survived. During an interview with ComicBook.com's podcast "Phase Zero," Iwuji said, "Well, let me just put it this way. I'm hoping you'll see an extended version or maybe an alternate ending, you know, that we certainly did film. I mean the whole point in Marvel is that unless you see someone die, they haven't necessarily died, and even if they do die what does that mean in the multiverse, right? But, the point is that Rocket doesn't shoot me. They make a point of saying why don't you kill him and he says no, I'm not going to kill him. And you don't actually see me go down with the ship. So, I'll just leave it at that."
The High Evolutionary could appear on What if ... ? or in Avengers: Secret Wars
Chukwudi Iwuji is right; unless a character's death is explicitly shown on screen, there's every chance that that character is not in fact actually dead. That's just the law of Hollywood storytelling. As for Iwuji's comment about the multiverse deleting any chance of narrative permadeath, he's right on that front, too — but let's not jump to Kang-clusions just yet.
Instead, let's focus on just one universe, the one seen in James Gunn's film. "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" took the time to have Rocket Raccoon prevent the High Evolutionary's death at the Guardians' hands, so Iwuji's tacit endorsement of his character's potential future in the MCU isn't quite as subtle as all that.
So, if the High Evolutionary is still alive, where could he reappear in the MCU? The obvious and easy way to have the character return without any lasting consequences would be to have him crop up somewhere in an upcoming season of "What if ... ?" on Disney+ but, again, that dips into multiverse territory. For all the narrative significance the show entails, the animated Marvel anthology could feature Winnie the Pooh as the next Black Panther and it would carry the same heft.
A more interesting place for the High Evolutionary to appear would be in "Avengers: Secret Wars," which is basically an all-out brawl between Marvel's entire character roster. The 2015 version of the comic run features a heavy dose of the High Evolutionary, too, so Marvel could run with Iwuji's sudden spike in popularity and give him a chance to wreak havoc on a broader scale.
Just as long as the studio doesn't build its entire brand around his future. That was a bad idea the first time around, too.