Nathan Fillion is ready to bring Wonder Man to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. All they have to do is call.

The Cars 3 star, who is pals with Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, set the Internet ablaze when he Instagrammed a picof himself in character in a cut scene from the recent sequel.

Fillion shared a photo dressed in full Conan gear with the caption, “From a scene you won’t see in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”

“These opportunities come in strange ways and shapes and forms and James Gunn is one of those guys who likes to put his friends in his movies,” Fillion tells the Sun, recounting the experience.

But the photo led to a ton of speculation as to who Fillion might have been playing.

Gunn then took to social media to confirm that he was slated to have a cameo as Simon Williams – a.k.a. Wonder Man – in a series of movie posters.

In one of the storylines from the comics, Williams is nicknamed “Hollywood” and is part of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Writing on Facebook, Gunn shared his original idea for Fillion's big MCU splash. "As many of you know one of my best friends in the world is Nathan Fillion," he wrote. "Along with Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry he's been in every movie I've directed — even as a monstrous, perverted voice in Guardians of the Galaxy. I didn't have a good cameo for him in Vol. 2 — and I wanted to bring him more fully into the MCU at some point, so I didn't want to make him Aakon Guard #2, narrowing his chance of a more substantial role in the future. I really do love the character of Simon Williams/Wonder Man in the comics — a sometimes douchey actor/superhero — and could see Nathan clearly in that role (not because he's a douchebag but because he's great at playing one). But, of course, in a movie set 99.9% in space I didn't really have a place for him."

Fillion added to this saying, “So in the case of Guardians 2, we had a little scene cooked up. Basically there was a scene on Earth and I was going to be in the background in a series of movie posters. I was going to be the Simon Williams movie poster guy and it didn’t work out.”

Gunn shared a photo of Fillion in character as Simon Williams in the title role of Tony Stark, a biopic that mimicked Michael Fassbender’s Steve Jobs movie from 2015. The Instagram snap Fillion posted was for a Conan-style movie poster that would have featured a spaceship.

But that doesn’t mean the character is destined to always remain on the cutting room floor.

“I understand fans being disappointed, but I still had a good time,” Fillion says. And then he offers a tease, “Let’s hope something comes from that opportunity.”

Twitter: @markhdaniell

MDaniell@postmedia.com