Peter Quill’s Walkman replaced a Darth Vader easter egg in Guardians

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Peter Quill's Walkman in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is quite an important fixture in his life, not only does it represent a connection to Earth and his mother, but it also provides an excuse for the film's awesome soundtrack. It seems odd to imagine that the Walkman wasn't always a part of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told Mashable that they originally had an entirely different object in mind to serve as Quill's favorite souvenir from Earth – the Dark Lord of the Sith.

We wanted to reveal at a certain point in the movie that Peter Quill was a human from Earth. And for a long time, I really thought it was going to be the greatest thing in the world that you're in a spaceship and he's talking to one of the alien characters and he knocks over his bag and one of the alien characters bends down and picks [it] up and it was a Darth Vader action figure, [and] goes, 'What's this?' 

Kevin Feige added that this idea was in the works before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, but the small Darth Vader cameo was nixed when GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY director James Gunn suggested that a Walkman might give Peter Quill a musical connection to his home planet. "And it was like, 'Oh, that's a million times better,'" Feige said, "because the Star Wars thing was just a nerdy reference in a single moment, and obviously, the conceit of the music redefined the entire movie." While the appearance of a Darth Vader action-figure would have been cute, James Gunn and Kevin Feige absolutely made the right call. Can you imagine GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY without "Hooked on a Feeling," "Come and Get Your Love," or "Cherry Bomb"? No thank you.