James Gunn's Hidden Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Cameo Made Better Without CGI (2024)

James Gunn continued his tradition of making a cameo appearance in his movies with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but his cameo is a lot funnier without CGI magic. The story of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come to an end with their third movie, but it set up a bright future for a new team now led by Rocket Raccoon. However, the team, and especially Rocket Raccoon, went through a lot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before parting ways, and throughout this exciting but painful adventure, the Guardians came across various of the High Evolutionary’s (Chukwudi Iwuji) experiments and creations.The High Evolutionary is a scientist obsessed with creating an ideal society, and for that, he experimented on various species, eventually creating anthropomorphized animal lifeforms. Throughout Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the audience met various of those creations, most notably Rocket’s friends, but during the third act, the Guardians rescued all the animals imprisoned and modified by the High Evolutionary. Among them was a creature named Lambshank, played by James Gunn, but this hidden cameo is way funnier when watched without CGI.Related:

James Gunn's Lambshank Is Even Funnier Without CGI

During the Guardian’s rescue of the creatures imprisoned by the High Evolutionary, Mantis opened a gate containing a deformed creature with a horn, sharp teeth, short legs and arms, uneven ears, and scars all over its body, as it was made of different parts of other animals. Mantis was understandably startled to see this creature when she opened its cage, but she felt guilty for her reaction and apologized to Lambshank as it made its way out of the cage to its freedom. Gunn provided the moves for Lambshank, making this his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and a clip of this scene without CGI has made its way to social media, showing Gunn’s pre-CGI performance, which makes the scene hilarious.

The clip shows Gunn squatting in the cage and really getting into character, making weird, guttural noises and staring at a scared Mantis. Gunn then exits the cage squatting and moving his arms like Lambshank would with its uneven arms, saying “thank you” to Mantis in a strange but funny voice. The pre-CGI scene of Lambshank’s rescue is even better than the original as you wouldn’t expect to see the movie’s director giving his best performance as a deformed creature, and some Twitter users have asked for the scene to be edited into the film.

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Why James Gunn's Lambshank Cameo Is More Important Than You Think

As mentioned above, James Gunn has made cameo appearances in every one of his movies, and his MCU projects were no exception. In Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn’s hidden cameo was as a maskless Sakaaran and he also provided the now-famous dance moves for Baby Groot in the mid-credits scene. Gunn returned as Baby Groot for the opening dance scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so he had to have another hidden cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn’s Lambshank cameo is important not just because this is the final adventure of the original Guardians team, but because this is most likely his last MCU movie and cameo.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is the end of an era for the title team, and with no plans for a fourth movie for now and Gunn leading the DC Universe, it’s unlikely he will be back in the MCU for another project. James Gunn not only brought an exciting and emotional final chapter in the story of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but his final hidden cameo in this connected universe is also quite funny, both the final version and the pre-CGI one.