Has Bradley Cooper Ever Met The Guardians of the Galaxy Cast?

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As Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's release gets close, the movie's cast has banded together to promote the team's final chapter, but Rocket Raccoon actor Bradley Cooper is noticeably missing, which is not new to the franchise. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's cast brings Cooper back alongside franchise mainstays Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Vin Diesel as Groot. The film marks the final adventure for this iteration of the Guardians, as director James Gunn moves over to Marvel's rival DC, and Drax actor Bautista has said that he is done after the movie.
Cooper's Rocket is front and center in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The movie focuses on Rocket's past, revealing never-before-seen details of the character's backstory in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Gunn has talked about how he wanted to make Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because of Rocket, showing how important Cooper's role is in the trilogy finale. The movie shows Rocket's childhood friends for the first time, revealing how the character lost his innocence due to the experiments of the movie's villain, the High Evolutionary. Cooper's absence from the film's marketing, despite his important role, has many questioning if he has ever even met the Guardians cast.
Bradley Cooper Did Press For The First Guardians of the Galaxy Movie

Cooper has met the Guardians of the Galaxy cast in the past, with the actor being publicly sighted with the rest of the cast numerous times throughout the original movie's press tour. 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy was responsible for introducing an obscure team from Marvel Comics, which was completely re-imagined by Gunn for the MCU. To do so, the casting of talented, well-known actors such as Cooper, who was coming off a Best Actor Oscar nomination in the previous year for Silver Linings Playbook, and Vin Diesel, a fan-favorite for his Fast & Furious action franchise, in voice roles helped put the movie in people's radars.
Guardians of the Galaxy became a resounding success, with the team going on to appear in other MCU franchises, including two Avengers movies and Thor: Love and Thunder, as well getting its own trilogy. The Guardians cast has also had great success with the creation of Disney+, which has allowed the MCU to expand in exciting new directions. Marvel's cosmic franchise has contributed to that with a series of animated Baby Groot shorts and the MCU's first holiday special. As the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise became extremely popular, Cooper and Diesel were seen less each year.
Bradley Cooper Attended The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Premiere

While Cooper is not normally known to appear alongside his fellow co-stars to promote his MCU appearances, the actor could not be absent from the celebration of the cast's final adventure together. Cooper attended the LA premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The actor was seen showcasing his signature smile for the whole night at the celebration of the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy finale. Cooper posed for photos with fans who cosplayed as their favorite members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, also appearing in snapshots together with Disney executives and his co-stars.
Fans who never got to see the often busy Cooper interact with his Guardians of the Galaxy co-stars will be happy to see that the actor took to the stage with the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 cast and director Gunn to introduce the movie to those privileged to catch it a week before Marvel Studios premieres it worldwide. Check out some photos of Cooper's time at the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premiere below, courtesy of Disney.
Close Cooper's appearance at the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 premiere shows that despite the actor not having really been present publicly in relation to the franchise over the last decade, he cares deeply about the work Gunn and the cast have achieved with Marvel's cosmic team. Despite keeping a low profile in the MCU, Cooper has once before shown how much he cares for the Guardians of the Galaxy and the team involved in the movie. After Gunn had been fired by Disney, Cooper signed an open letter alongside the Guardians of the Galaxy main cast to ask for the director to be reinstated.
Why Bradley Cooper Doesn't Do Press for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

Most actors are not exactly fond of the tiring process involved in the press circuit for a movie. After having done their part in making the first Guardians of the Galaxy a huge success, Cooper and Diesel likely worked out their contracts to allow them to skip the franchise's press tours if they felt like it. The fact that the actors do not have to be present on set, as their parts are strictly voice roles, allied to the fact that the actors portraying the Guardians of the Galaxy's live-action characters, such as Pratt, exploded in popularity after the first movie, likely worked out in Cooper and Diesel's favor.
While that would explain why the voice actors that are part of the Guardians of the Galaxy cast are not frequently seen with the rest of the franchise's actors, Cooper is seen even less than Diesel. The Groot actor recently joined Gunn, Pratt, Saldaña, Gillan, and Klementieff to promote the team's final adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, during a leg of the movie's press tour in France. Cooper's schedule is incredibly busy, with the actor often starring in big awards circuit movies, besides also expanding his reach with roles as a producer and director, which might cause scheduling conflicts with the Guardians of the Galaxy press plans.
How Much Does Bradley Cooper Make For His Marvel Movie Roles?

MCU salaries vary depending on the actor's existing popularity outside the role, how well their Marvel movies have performed, and how many MCU appearances they have had. Cooper joined the first Guardians of the Galaxy as a consolidated actor, and despite having only a voice role, it is possible that he made more than franchise lead, Pratt, who reportedly earned a $1.5 million sum for Guardians of the Galaxy. The reason for that is Cooper had his Avengers: Endgame salary revealed by Forbes, with the actor getting $6 million for the crossover film. Reportedly, Pratt got paid $5 Million for Avengers: Infinity War which points to Cooper beating him out.
Cooper will likely be making even more for the final adventure for this version of the MCU's cosmic team, as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 focuses on his character. Rocket has always been a fan-favorite, ever since his first MCU appearance, but the character's important role in the last two Avengers movies — Infinity War and Endgame — may have possibly helped the character become the fan-favorite member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, even surpassing Pratt's Star-Lord. If Rocket survives Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, despite all the signs pointing to the character's death, then Cooper could make even more money in the new Guardians of the Galaxy team.
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