A Fan-Favorite Marvel Actor Made An Appearance In A Stargate SG-1 Episode

"Stargate SG-1" hosted an impressive array of guest stars over the course of its 10-season run. The show focused on a team of universe-traversing soldiers and scientists, which threw up several problems. The biggest challenge faced by the "SG-1" VFX team was trying to find new locations to stand in for the various alien planets in the series. But the show also needed a lot of guest actors to portray the extra-terrestrial races that inhabit the multitude of distant planets explored by the SG-1 team. Often, the show and its spin-offs got around that particular challenge by casting the same actors in different roles. One of the most prolific "Stargate SG-1" guest stars, for example, actually played nine different characters, though thanks to the prosthetics and makeup you'd never know it was the same guy.

But there were also multiple guest stars who only showed up a handful of episodes. The great Robert Patrick appeared in two episodes of "Stargate Atlantis," while multiple "Star Trek" actors showed up in "Stargate" shows. Back in season 7 of "SG-1," we also got a one-and-done appearance from an actor that would go on to become a fan-favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe character in the form of Michael Rooker, who's best known for playing Yondu Udonta in James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" films.

Michael Rooker's breakout role in the controversial 1986 cult classic "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," which remains notorious for upsetting viewers with its graphic depictions of the real-life killings carried out by Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole. Ever since his jarringly convincing portrayal of the serial killer, Rooker has been known for playing villains, from the duplicitous Bill Broussard in Oliver Stone's "JFK" to the alien-inhabited antagonist Grant Grant in James Gunn's 2006 horror comedy "Slither." But arguably his best known role, at least among younger viewers, is that of Yondu Udonta in Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" films.

In the trilogy (and "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special"), Yondu is the leader of the criminal syndicate the Ravagers and an adoptive father to Chris Pratt's Peter Quill/Star-Lord. Yondu raised Quill as a Ravager thief and, despite his questionable background, became an ally of the titular superhero team. The character became a fan-favorite, helped by a striking all-blue appearance that made him one of the most visually memorable members of the "Guardians" gang. He also sacrificed himself for Quill at the end of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," instantly turning himself into a Marvel Cinematic Universe legend. 

Yondu allowed Rooker to subvert his typecasting as a villain, too. The character starts out as an antagonistic presence before demonstrating a compassionate side when he reveals to Quill that he stole him from his family in order to save him from his evil father, Ego (Kurt Russell), and ultimately sacrificing himself for his adopted son. For his "SG-1" appearance, however, Rooker played a straightforward villain.

Michael Rooker appears in the seventh episode of "Stargate SG-1" season 7. Entitled "Enemy Mine," the 2003 installment sees Rooker play Martin Edwards, an Air Force Colonel who leads the SG-11 team on their Naquadah mining mission to P3X-403. Edwards and his SG-11 crew uncover a large Naquadah deposit, but soon discover it's located on a burial ground for humanoid alien species the Unas, who had previously been enslaved by the Goa'uld. Hard-headed and dispassionate, Edwards decides to fight the Unas head-on, pushing for an all-out war that's only averted when Dr. Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) and Chaka (Patrick Currie) negotiate with the Unas leader Kor Asek, or Iron Shirt. Ultimately Jackson and Chaka convince Iron Shirt to help mine the Naquadah in cooperation with humans, but if Edwards had his way, they would have been wiped out completely.

Rooker's appearance is noteworthy not only because he delivers a characteristically memorable performance as Edwards, but because it's one of the only major links between "Stargate SG-1" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Spader, who played Daniel Jackson in Roland Emmerich's original "Stargate" movie from 1994, eventually played Ultron in "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (which some argue is actually the best "Avengers" movie). Otherwise no major "SG-1" guest stars ended up as part of the MCU.

Whether we'll see any more of Rooker in Marvel's ongoing franchise remains unclear, but the frequent James Gunn collaborator has already shown up in the newly-established DC Universe. After playing Brian Durlin/Savant in Gunn's 2021 DC Extended Universe movie "The Suicide Squad" Rooker became part of the so-called "Gods and Monsters" chapter of the DCU when he voiced one of the robots guarding the Fortress of Solitude in "Superman." He's also set to play Red St. Wild in "Peacemaker" season 2.