David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust himself, oh-so-nearly appeared in this year’s Guardians of the Galaxy sequel.

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The director of Marvel’s interplanetary saga revealed that he approached the Space Oddity singer to play a brief role in the film. Unfortunately Bowie died in January 2016, before it could be completed. Now Gunn has given details of what might have been.

"It would have been as one of the Ravagers, along with Michelle Yeoh and Ving Rhames and Sylvester Stallone and Michael Rosenbaum, but, unfortunately, David Bowie passed away," said Gunn.

Of course, comics fans will know the Ravagers were Gunn’s interpretation of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team. Exactly what character he intended Bowie to play, Gunn didn’t reveal, but it’s interesting he left out Miley Cyrus – who voiced the robot face Mainframe – in the above explanation.

This news follows Gunn’s heartfelt Facebook message after Bowie died last year. Gunn wrote: “Bowie was an idol of mine, huge and omnipresent. Few artists in any field have had as an indelible impression upon me as he has.

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“To my mind, Ziggy Stardust is perhaps the greatest rock and roll album of all time. We featured 'Moonage Daydream' in Guardians, but I always thought the album's character was felt far beyond that, in the aesthetics, in the integral and seemingly-natural linking in popular culture of '70's rock and space opera.”

Authors

Thomas LingDigital editor, BBC Science Focus

Thomas is Digital editor at BBC Science Focus. Writing about everything from cosmology to anthropology, he specialises in the latest psychology, health and neuroscience discoveries. Thomas has a Masters degree (distinction) in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield and has written for Men’s Health, Vice and Radio Times. He has been shortlisted as the New Digital Talent of the Year at the national magazine Professional Publishers Association (PPA) awards. Also working in academia, Thomas has lectured on the topic of journalism to undergraduate and postgraduate students at The University of Sheffield.

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