Is Michael Rooker In 'Avengers: Infinity War' Or Not?

The cast of Avengers: Infinity War will include nearly every major character from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All of the Avengers will be there, obviously, and there are supposed to be some new ones as well, including Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. Joining them will be all the Guardians of the Galaxy. But what about the new members of the team from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? More specifically, will Michael Rooker be returning as Yondu in the battle to stop Thanos from destroying Earth?

In order to discuss his potential role, we have to dive into spoiler territory, so don't read any further if you haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. But if you have, join us below.

Speculation about the return of Michael Rooker in Avengers Infinity War initially arrived after the actor shared these photos on social media:

On the left, Rooker snapped a picture at a Starbucks down in Georgia (where many of Marvel's movies have been shooting for years now), and you can clearly see the Infinity War logo on his stocking cap. On the right, he's wearing the same hat and said in his Instagram post he was in the make-up trailer, which led many to believe he was on set for an appearance in Infinity War.

However, now that we've seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we know that Michael Rooker's character Yondu perished in the film's climax, sacrificing his life to save Peter Quill. After Yondu dies in the cold, emptiness of space, he's given a funeral where his body is colorfully burned and sent into the cosmos as his fellow Ravagers pay tribute to him. But since these are comic book movies, it's not out of the ordinary for characters to come back from presumed death. So many fans thought Yondu would somehow return for Avengers: Infinity War.

However, this assumption was shot down when Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn answered fan questions in a spoilery Q&A on Facebook live. One person asked whether we would see Yondu return, and Gunn said:

"Yondu is dead. I think it's very important that in these movies, there are stakes within the films. I am not into this old school way of doing things, where you kill characters and you bring them back and then you kill them again and then you bring them back and their deaths mean nothing. Yondu is dead. It's sad. There could be a prequel Yondu film or a flashback or something like that. Yondu could exist in the past, but he's not going to come back to life, so long as I am involved with Marvel. It's just not going to happen."

If Yondu is really dead, then what was Michael Rooker doing on the set of Avengers: Infinity War? Was there some kind of flashback being shot? Maybe there is some kind of vision or dream that Star-Lord has involving Yondu? Well, the truth is that Michael Rooker actually isn't in Avengers: Infinity War, and he was on set specifically to throw off suspecting fans who were guessing that Yondu would die in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

Answering a fan's question on Twitter, Gunn posted this:

Pretty sneaky, Mr. Gunn. But it certainly threw people off the scent of guessing that Yondu would die in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Personally, as much as I would love to see Yondu come back from the dead, I'm glad that James Gunn has decided to make that death significant and meaningful by keeping it permanent.