Why Did Matthew McConaughey Choose 'Dark Tower' Over 'Guardians Of The Galaxy 2'?

We all know that often times the actors we see in movies weren't the only ones who were in consideration for the parts in question. In an alternate universe there are movies where Will Smith is Neo in The Matrix and David Bowie is Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. And we almost got to see Matthew McConaughey in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he chose another project instead.

This year we'll see Matthew McConaughey in the villainous role of the Man in Black in the adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower, and it was this role that he opted to take instead of one in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. But the question is why? Thankfully, the actor has explained his reasoning behind the decision.

Find out why Matthew McConaughey chose The Dark Tower instead of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 below.

In an interview with Playboy, the discussion turned to McConaughey's choices in blockbuster movies in 2017, and the actor explained his reasoning in choosing one over the other:

"I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was 'It's successful, and now we've got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor.' I'd feel like an amendment. The Dark Tower script was well written, I like the director [Nikolaj Arcel] and his take on it, and I can be the creator, the author of the Man in Black—a.k.a. the Devil—in my version of this Stephen King novel. We've done the first one. It's a fantastic thriller that takes place in another realm, an alternate universe, but it's very much grounded. For instance, the gunslinger's weapon isn't a lightsaber or something; it's a pistol. I enjoyed approaching my character as if I were the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them."

Essentially, McConaughey wanted to feel like a core part of the creation of the big screen world that he was choosing to be part of. Honestly, you can't blame him for wanting to be integral in the creation of something like that from the beginning rather than being an additional part of a machine that has already been proven to run smoothly. Funnily enough, his part in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 also would have been a villainous one, though we still don't know for sure who that character would have been just yet.

More than likely, McConaughey probably has a little more creative freedom on The Dark Tower to establish the Man in Black character as his own than he would have by joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We're still waiting to see exactly what he did with that character since the first trailer for The Dark Tower hasn't been released yet, but hopefully that will change soon.

The Dark Tower arrives on July 28, 2017 while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 debuts on May 5, 2017.