Before James Gunn heads off to DC Studios the director will return one last time for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, wrapping up the trilogy. The upcoming Marvel entry has the titular ragtag superhero gang up against longtime Marvel Comics villain, the High Evolutionary, played by Chukwudi Iwuji. This would be Gunn and Iwuji's second collaboration after last year's hit Peacemaker on HBO Max.

　　Gunn recently hyped up Iwuji's performance in the feature by simply posting to his Instagram a photo of the High Evolutionary, stating "Can’t wait for you all to meet this guy."

　　Supposed Marvel fans commented and complained on the post about the casting, citing "another white guy they made into a black guy" and other similar remarks. Iwuji is a Nigerian-British actor who is also an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Gunn would have none of the trolling comments.

　　"I chose the best actor, period, and the best person for the role," Gunn replied. "I don't give a s--- what ethnicity Chukwudi Iwuji is, so stop with your racist presumptions on WHY he was chosen. (And, by the way, he's playing a guy who’s almost always purple in the color.)"

　　Blind and race-swapping casting is hardly anything new in comic book movies. Billy Dee Williams played Harvey Dent in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman blockbuster, the highest-grossing movie of that year. Similar situations had the late Michael Clark Duncan as Kingpin in 2003's Daredevil and recently Jeffrey Wright playing Jim Gordon in Matt Reeves' The Batman.

　　It's interesting to note that in comic book movies like 2007's 30 Days of Night, Josh Hartnett played Eben Oleson, a character who was of Inuit descent in the original comic book series and was whitewashed. Same with the controversial casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in 2016's Dr. Strange, who became Celtic with the casting.

　　Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 lands in theaters May 5, 2023.