Who did Michael Rosenbaum play in Guardians of the Galaxy? Smallville star reveals Marvel cut short his role

Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum opened up about his time on the Guardians of the Galaxy. During a Comicon panel session in Nashville on Saturday, June 1, the actor revealed that a lot of his screen time was cut from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies in which he portrayed the role of Martinex T'Naga, a member of the United Ravagers and the Stakar Ravager Clan.

Rosenbaum revealed that the initial script had scenes with the character showcasing his "really cool" powers but all of it had to be cut from the movies. However, Rosenbaum was still tight with director James Gunn and was grateful for the opportunity.

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Michael Rosenbaum played Martinex in James Gunn's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' films

James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 saw the entry of Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Rosenbaum portrayed the alien character Martinex, who was the first officer of the Stakar Ravager Clan. Rosenbaum also reprised the role in the following movie.

Martinex T'Naga was initially a part of the Ravagers, an interstellar criminal syndicate that was captained by Sylvester Stallone's Stakar Ogord. Martinex accompanied Ogord through missions across the galaxy before staying with him as his first mate after the Ravagers disbanded following Yondu Udonta's unceremonious exile.

The crystal-skinned Martinex was also present on the planet Contraxia when Yondu Udonta got into an argument with Stakar Ogord who chastised him for betraying the Raveger Code. He was also present during Yondu's funeral alongside Stakar. When Stakar finally got the old Ravagers back together following Yondu's death, Martinex could be heard saying "Dope."

Martinex's abilities could not be on full display due to his lack of screen time in the film series however, he still does have a few highlights. Being with the Ravagers automatically made him an elite thief, apart from that he also had a heavily durable body made out of silicon-isotope crystals, and commanded a very long lifespan courtesy of him being Pluvian.

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"They cut a lot out": Michael Rosenbaum on his stint as Martinex

During a Nashville Comicon panel on Saturday, Michael Rosenbaum touched upon his lack of screen time in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films. When he was asked if he would be up for another appearance as Martinex in the MCU, the actor immediately agreed. Rosenbaum detailed:

"The role (Martinex) was supposed to be a lot bigger. They cut a lot out,"

When asked what was something that was cut out, Michael Rosenbaum replied:

"You were supposed to see … it was written in the script to see Martinex’s powers, the powers that he had which were really cool. But they had so much to sort of talk about in the script that they ended up cutting it out at the end. And there was some other stuff."

However, despite some scenes getting cut out, Rosenbaum still described the experience as "fun." He said:

"For me, it’s like, I’m working with my friends, I get paid, I’m in a big Marvel movie, life could suck worse, you know what I mean? I’m very grateful."

Rosenbaum had earlier referred to James Gunn as his "buddy." The actor and Gunn first worked together in the Gunn brothers' 2008-09 internet series PG Porn. The comedy also starred Gunn himself alongside his brother Sean Gunn and adult film star Belladonna.

The description of the series on IMDb reads:

"For people who love everything about porn...except the s*x."

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Michael Rosenbaum rose to fame for his portrayal of Lex Luthor in the CW Superman television series Smallville starring Tom Welling as Clark Kent. The series showcased Luthor's descent from being Clark's best friend to his worst enemy. Rosenbaum was a member of the main cast for the first seven seasons of Smallville before leaving and making a guest appearance in the tenth and final season.