The Official, Untold Backstory of a New 'Guardians' Villain

Taserface is one of the more consequential new characters in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but the movie offers up scant few details about the space pirate’s inner life. Here’s all that we know: He’s a bit of a hot head (you’ve got to be in that line of work), he has poor taste in nicknames, and he doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “metaphor.” And that’s about it.

Sure, in the comic books, Taserface is a member of the Stark race of aliens, and he also eventually renames himself Overkill (still not great). But Guardians director James Gunn has never followed the comic book canon all that closely. So really, Taserface is a blank slate — until now, thanks to Inverse’s conversation with Chris Sullivan, the man who plays the nasty Ravager.

In an interview broadcast on Facebook Live last Friday, Sullivan answered a modified version of the Proust Questionnaire on behalf of Taserface, in order to construct a backstory for the mysterious character.

Sullivan offered some keen insights into his complexion-challenged alter ego.

“The principle aspect of Taserface’s personality is control freak,” Sullivan said. “He desperately wants to be in charge. He desperately wants to be the alpha, and when things don’t go his way, he gets very upset. And it’s always from our childhood, isn’t it?”

So, as you might expect, Taserface is a damaged soul, with a Freudian complex. But that’s par for the course for villains, especially on the big screen, so no big surprise there. And it’s also not surprising to learn that Taserface’s biggest weakness is his hygiene — as Sullivan notes, it’s very hard to bathe in space.

But there were also some unexpected secrets buried deep down the character’s soul. For one, when he’s not pillaging, Taserface is really into yoga. He loves arm wrestling, which might not be surprising, but here’s a twist: His enjoyment of the sport is inspired by the movie Over the Top, which is just one of the many ‘80s action flicks he enjoys so much.

Taserface is a thinker, too, with a deep inner life.

“You give Taserface an ice cold flaggon of ale, and an asteroid-free field of space before him, and he can just sit and stare at the stars, probably forever,” Sullivan revealed. “He’s thinking about how he’s going to find that special lady, how he’s going to get off this ship and stop hanging out with all these dudes, and find someone who loves him for him.”

For anyone interested in applying for the role of Taserface’s life partner, know that he’s looking for someone with “a sturdy bone structure and low center of gravity, and probably not a type-A person,” Sullivan explained. “He wants someone who is flexible, who can fly by the seat of their pants.”

Remember, this is canon, so when you watch Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 this weekend, make sure to consider all this backstory whenever Taserface enters the scene.