Everything we know about the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' sequel

James Gunn unveiled the first look at some Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 concept art via Facebook, and it's got a couple of surprises. For one thing, check out adorable Baby Groot. But for another, this is our first look at Mantis, who will be played by Pom Klementieff in the movie. And how can you not love Rocket Raccoon with a jetpack?

And now we have the first story details of the movie, courtesy of the folks at Stitch Kingdom. It's not much, but it's a start!

Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.

I'm really curious about that "old foes become new allies" thing, as well as the "fan-favorite characters" part. Does this mean we'll get to see characters like Quasar, Nova (singular, not the Corps), or Adam Warlock this time around?

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release Date

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2  is scheduled for release on May 5th, 2017. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Cast

Marvel

The official press release confirms that the core original cast is back, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord;  Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Dave Bautista as Drax; Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket; and  even Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula (you didn't really think we had seen the last of her, did you?), and Sean Gunn as Kraglin.

There are two characters from the first film who won't make their return in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Neither Nova Corps member Dey nor Benicio Del Toro's The Collector will be in this one. The news comes via James Gunn's Facebook page. 

New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (The Knick, The Drop) and Kurt Russell (TheHateful Eight, Furious 7). Kurt Russell is indeed playing Star-Lord's father, although don't expect to find out his name. It definitely isn't J-Son. James Gunn confirmed that Pom Klementieff is playing Marvel Comics character Mantis, as well. Steve Agee is also on board.

The same scientists who created Adam Warlock also created Kismet. But she was their second attempt, while Warlock was their first. So if Kismet is in the movie, that might at least mean that Adam Warlock already exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether he's actually been cast or will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is another story.

Tommy Flanagan, recently known as Chibs on Sons of Anarchy, will play Yondu's new right hand man in the Ravagers. Heroic Hollywood, who first reported the news, claims that Yondu and the Ravagers have a bounty out on Rocket Raccoon this time around.

Nathan Fillion had an amusing cameo as the voice of one of the intergalactic inmates in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, and now he's about to have another cameo as a more high profile member of the Marvel Universe.

With shooting underway, it appears some sequences are taking place on Earth, and there's a "Simon Williams Film Festival" happening, with a movie theater all decked out with posters featuring Nathan Fillion's face in various roles...including a biopic of Tony Stark. Simon Williams is better known to Marvel fans as part time superhero/part time actor, "Wonder Man." It's unlikely that we're going to see anything resembling Wonder Man in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but this sounds like a fun way to sneak him in.

The images, honestly, look like crap, so I'm not putting them here, but you can see them at ComicBook.com if you'd like.

I've reached out to representatives for Mr. Fillion to see if anyone will offer any confirmation or further details.

Director James Gunn eagerly snapped a shot of Guardians old and new together for rehearsals, which you can view below. Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan (with hair!), and more are heeding the call.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Villain

JoBlo.com has been getting some quality Marvel scoops lately, and now they appear to have word on who the villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is. With all of the official casting news out there (more on that on page two), there's been no word on who Elizabeth Debicki is playing (there was some speculation that she was playing Phyla-Vell/Quasar). You might recognize Ms. Debicki from her recent turn on AMC's excellent The Night Manager, which starred another Marvel villain, Tom Hiddleston.

JoBlo reports that Ms. Debicki is the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 villain, Kismet. Kismet (also known as Paragon and Her) is an artificial life form created by a group of scientists known as the Enclave. She's got tremendous cosmic power at her disposal. But here's another cool thing...she's connected to Adam Warlock, a character that we absolutely need to see on screen fighting Thanos at some point.

Marvel

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Plot

This is the closest thing to an official synopsis Marvel is handing out right now:

Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team's adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill's true parentage.

If you're looking for inspiration from the comics, you're out of luck. James Gunn has already promised that the movie is "not really based on anything."

For one thing, expect them to solve the mystery of Star-Lord's father in this one. "At its heart, Guardians is a story about families. And if the first film was about him and his mother, this is a story about fathers." 

He expanded on that a little bit for us:

“You’ll have to wait and see but it’s very different. There are things in the comic book that on film seemed to come out a little too Star Wars to me. I’m not a great fan of the name J’son. So there’ll be a lot of differences from what’s in there." 

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Villain

It doesn't look like Thanos is going to have a major hand in the proceedings, which should help to distance this from the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War movies. Maybe one of those other new cast members has the answer.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Production Details

We'll just let the press release take over here...

Director James Gunn's creative team also includes director of photography Henry Braham ("The Legend of Tarzan," "The Golden Compass"); production designer Scott Chambliss ("Star Trek," "Tomorrowland"); editors Fred Raskin ("The Hateful Eight," "Guardians of the Galaxy") and Craig Wood ("Guardians of the Galaxy," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"); three time Oscar®-nominated costume designer Judianna Makovsky ("Captain America: Civil War," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"); Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Chris Townsend ("Avengers: Age of Ultron," "Iron Man 3"); stunt coordinator Tommy Harper ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" ); co-producer / first assistant director Lars Winther ("Captain America: Civil War," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"); and six-time Oscar® nominee, special effects supervisor Dan Sudick ("Captain America: Civil War,"  "The Avengers").