'Guardians 2'-'Infinity War' Great Fake-Out: How Michael Rooker Fooled Fans on Social Media

By now, fans of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 know the film’s biggest, saddest surprise: Michael Rooker‘s roguish Yondu Udonta sacrifices himself to save surrogate son Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). It is arguably the first major death in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and, naturally, the cast and crew went to great lengths to keep audiences in the dark. Even if that meant taking a page from the Star Wars playbook and planting false spoilers.

As Rooker informed us while visiting with Yahoo Movies at San Diego Comic-Con, a few fanatics were close to sniffing out the major plot point. So he and director James Gunn concocted a plan to make it seem like Yondu would be alive and well post-Vol. 2 and join the Guardians for their next outing in Avengers: Infinity War.

“I visited the set with my Infinity War cap on just to throw off audiences,” the sly Rooker recalled (watch above). “What was going on was people were figuring out that I did not survive Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, and we had a big spoiler toward the end. And so we really, really wanted to do something.

“I just visited Dave Bautista [Drax the Destroyer], and we shook hands, gave a big hug, and I walked off. Somebody took the photos and posted them.”

That someone was Rooker himself, who posted a handful of photos on Instagram, including one in the makeup trailer. When told that because of the photo he was listed on IMDb’s Infinity War cast page as “rumored,” Rooker broke into a big grin: “It is a rumor. It’s a rumor that I started!”

Rooker was making the Comic-Con rounds with fellow Guardians Karen Gillan (Nebula) and Pom Klementieff (Mantis) to promote next month’s release of Vol. 2 on digital and Blu-ray. And while Rooker only pretended to be in the movie, both Gillan and Klementieff are in it for real — they’re expected to hang around for Marvel’s climactic panel on Saturday night along with other key cast members for a replay of the trailer that premiered a week ago at Disney’s D23 Expo — and the actresses were downright giddy when talking about making the team-up movie.

“It’s like meeting your extended family after spending most of your time with your immediate family,” gushed Gillan.

“It’s a crazy cast,” added Klementieff. “There’s Thor, Iron Man…”

“There’s Spider-Man getting coffee,” Gillan continued. “And then Iron Man walks past, and you’re like, ‘What is this?'”

Gillan also told us she has one major goal before the film wraps: “I really want to take the [Captain America] shield. I might try and touch it at some point.”

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 arrives Aug. 8 on Digital HD and Aug. 22 on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. Avengers: Infinity War is due in theaters on May 4, 2018.

Keep coming back to Yahoo Movies for the latest from San Diego Comic-Con 2017.

Watch: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Cast Just Can’t Get Along:

Read more from Yahoo Movies:

• The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Cast Reacts to That Big Death Scene

• Get Up Close With Black Panther Costumes, Thor’s Gear, and Thanos’s Buddies

• Inside Disney’s Epic Guardians of the Galaxy Ride, From Easter Eggs to Groot-y Goodness