Back in October, we reported that Wild Turkey Creative Director Matthew McConaughey had turned down an offer to play the villain in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, despite the fact that his weirdo “spaceman philosopher who happens to be from Texas” persona would be a perfect fit for that series. Seriously, he could’ve just played himself and nobody would’ve thought it was weird for Matthew McConaughey to suddenly be terrorizing Star-Lord and the talking raccoon. Anyway, it was unclear why he had turned down the role at the time, but now McConaughey has emerged from his starship to give us Earth people a glimpse into his cosmic thought process.
Speaking with Playboy (via The Playlist), McConaughey explained that he liked the original Guardians Of The Galaxy, but the idea of capitalizing on his persona for the sequel didn’t appeal to him. He said he’d feel like “an amendment” to the series, and that it was like Marvel deciding that it simply wanted “a colorful part for another big-name actor.” Basically, though, the biggest factor was that he had another offer on the table that seemed more interesting: playing the villainous Man In Black in director Nikolaj Arcel’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Dark Tower.
McConaughey says the Dark Tower script was “well-written” and that he liked the director’s take on it, but mostly he appreciated that he could take some ownership of the character and do his own thing instead of just being another famous person in Guardians. He also says he played the Man In Black like he was “the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them.” That seems a bit more like his characterization in King’s The Stand than in the Dark Tower books, but it’s the same guy either way.
Also, “the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them” kind of sounds like it could be a description of McConaughey himself, so we’re just thankful that he’s a more benevolent deity than that.