Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Film Details
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a 2017 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team Guardians of the Galaxy, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and the 15th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Written and directed by James Gunn, the film stars an ensemble cast featuring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sylvester Stallone, and Kurt Russell. In the film, the Guardians travel throughout the cosmos as they help Peter Quill learn more about his mysterious parentage.
The film was officially announced at the 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International before the theatrical release of the first film, along with James Gunn’s return from the first film, with the title of the sequel revealed a year later in June 2015. Principal photography began in February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, with many crew changes from the first film due to other commitments. Filming concluded in June 2016. James Gunn chose to set the sequel shortly after the first film to explore the characters’ new roles as the Guardians, and to follow the storyline of Quill’s father established throughout that previous film. Russell was confirmed as Quill’s father in July 2016, portraying Ego, a departure from Quill’s comic father.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 premiered in Tokyo on April 10, 2017, and was released in the United States on May 5, 2017, as part of Phase Three of the MCU. It grossed more than $863 million worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2017, while also outgrossing its predecessor. The film received praise for its visuals, direction, soundtrack, action sequences, humor, and performances, though some critics deemed it inferior to the original. It received a nomination for Best Visual Effects at the 90th Academy Awards. A sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, was released on May 5, 2023, preceded by the Disney+ special The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in November 2022.
STORY
PRODUCTION
Development
In May 2014, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated he felt the first Guardians of the Galaxy film (2014) had “strong franchise potential”. He added that their goal was to create “another Avengers (2012)”. James Gunn, who directed and co-wrote the first film, said that he would like to return for a sequel, and that he was contractually obligated to if asked. The next month, producer Kevin Feige said there are “places we can take [the franchise] and we have ideas of where we’d like to go” based on the wide array of characters, worlds and storylines from the comics. In July 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy co-screenwriter Nicole Perlman confirmed a sequel, saying it was “going to happen” due to the positive internal response to the first film at Disney, and that Gunn would write and direct. At San Diego Comic-Con International soon after, the sequel was given a release date of July 28, 2017.
Gunn had begun work on the film within a month, and said it would include at least one new Guardian from the comics. In October, Gunn confirmed that all five original Guardians would return for the sequel, along with other supporting characters, and the release date was moved up to May 5, 2017. In the following months, Michael Rooker said he would return as Yondu Udonta, and was looking forward to exploring new areas of the character. Chris Pratt, who played Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the first film, confirmed the sequel would be one of his next projects. Bradley Cooper expressed interest and excitement when asked if he would return as Rocket.[94] Vin Diesel also confirmed he would return as Groot. In March 2015, Gunn revealed that filming would take place in Atlanta, Georgia with “major crew changes” from the first film, and that his brother, Sean Gunn, would return as Kraglin Obfonteri alongside Karen Gillan as Nebula. He explained his relationship with Marvel Studios, saying the company “let me go and do my thing, and I truly listen to their notes and ideas. I’ve never been told to put in any character or plot element at all… When they trust you they give you a wide berth… we just fit”.
In May, Gunn said the sequel would feature fewer characters than the first film, and that he had planned to introduce two major new characters in the script—Mantis and Adam Warlock. Talks had begun with an actor Gunn had in mind to portray Mantis, while he had decided to remove Warlock due to the film “getting too busy”, explaining, “one of the main things with Guardians of the Galaxy is not to add a bunch of characters, not to make it bigger in that way but to go deeper with the characters… and getting to know them more emotionally… everything is just getting too sprawling and too crazy for me in these superhero comic book movies”. Gunn added, “I adored what we had done with him. I think we did something really creative and unique with Adam Warlock. But it was one character too many and I didn’t want to lose Mantis and Mantis was more organically part of the movie anyway”. He noted that Warlock could appear in future Guardians films, and is considered “a pretty important part” of the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character’s future introduction is hinted at in one of the film’s mid-credits scenes. Gunn noted that Marvel gave him “some blowback” for including the Warlock teaser because they felt fans would believe the character would be appearing in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which was not the case. By including the scene, Gunn promised Marvel he would use his social media presence to clarify for fans that the character would not be seen in either of the Avengers films.
CAST
- Chris Pratt as Peter Quill / Star-Lord:
The half-human, half-Celestial leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy who was abducted from Earth as a child and raised by a group of alien thieves and smugglers called the Ravagers. Pratt, who returns as part of a multi-film contract with Marvel, said Quill is now famous throughout “the galaxy for having saved so many people… He feels like he’s part of this group, a leader of this group. He’s a little more responsible and trying to stay out of trouble, but not necessarily doing the best job.” Pratt stated that working on the film forced him to come to terms with the death of his own father. Wyatt Oleff once again portrays a young Quill. - Zoe Saldaña as Gamora:
A member of the Guardians and an orphan from an alien world who seeks redemption for her past crimes. She was trained by Thanos to be his personal assassin. Saldaña described Gamora’s role in the team as “the voice of reason”, saying, “She’s surrounded by all these dudes who are so stupid half the time,” and added that she is the “Mom” of the team, saying that she is “just a meticulous, detailed, professional individual.” Regarding Gamora’s relationship with Nebula, Saldaña described it as “volatile” and added, “we’re starting somewhere very crazy but appropriate given where we had ended things off in the first installment”. - Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer:
A member of the Guardians and highly skilled warrior. Bautista waited for the final version of the script to not take “away from the magic”, which he felt had happened when he read early drafts of the first film. He added that “I wasn’t crazy about my part [in Vol. 2, initially]. It went a different direction than what I thought they were going to go with Drax,” noting he did not “think Drax was that significant in the film”. The part “clicked” for Bautista after the table read with the other cast. Bautista called Drax “more funny, driven” than in the first film, and having “a sense of innocence and heartbreak about him”, despite “most people’s first perception of Drax [that] he’s just a big, muscly brute”. Bautista’s makeup took only 90 minutes to apply, down from four hours for the first film. He would have to sit in a sauna at the end of the day to get the makeup off, after his makeup test was found to be too “abrasive”. - Vin Diesel as Baby Groot:
A member of the Guardians who is a tree-like humanoid and the accomplice of Rocket. The character began growing from a sapling at the end of the first film, with James Gunn intending for him to be fully grown by the sequel. Gunn eventually decided to keep him as “Baby Groot”, which was one of the reasons the film is set only a few months after the first. Gunn described Baby Groot as the son of Groot from the first film, with Diesel explaining that “we’re going to see this goofy, adorable, baby Groot [just] kinda learning as he goes.” Prop master Russell Bobbitt created a 1:1 scale model of the 10-inch (25 cm) Baby Groot for filming, to use as a lighting reference and sometimes as a puppet for the actors to interact with. As Groot only communicates with the phrase “I am Groot” in different inflections, Gunn created a “Groot Version” of the script for himself and Diesel, which contains each of Groot’s lines in English. Diesel used a higher register of his voice for Baby Groot, which was pitched up by seven to nine semitones depending on the take. He also delivered lines slowly to avoid any time stretching issues. Diesel recorded Groot’s voice for sixteen foreign-language releases of the film (up from six in the first film). Sean Gunn provided on-set reference for adolescent Groot in the post-credit sequence. - Bradley Cooper as Rocket:
A member of the Guardians who is a genetically-engineered raccoon-based bounty hunter, mercenary, and master of weapons and battle tactics. Sean Gunn once again served as the stand-in for the character during filming, with Cooper’s performance also referenced. Sean Gunn said that “Rocket has the same sort of crisis of faith [that he had in the first film] about whether or not he belongs in this family”, with James Gunn adding, “this is really about Rocket coming to terms with accepting his place within a group of people, which probably seemed like a good idea” when they were heroes together at the end of the first film, but now “he’s just not very comfortable with the idea”. Feige stated that the relationship between Rocket and Groot has changed, saying, “Groot was Rocket’s protector in the first movie, [and now] Rocket is Groot’s protector.” - Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta:
A blue-skinned buccaneer of the Ravagers who is a fatherly figure to Quill and member of the Guardians. He is also the former deputy to Ayesha. Yondu has a larger head fin in the film, to look closer to his comic counterpart, and Rooker worked with the prosthetic department to add gaps to his prosthetic teeth, “just like real teeth”, to aid him in whistling as the character. Rooker explained that, for the sequel, Gunn “wanted people to experience more in-depth what Yondu was thinking and how he’s feeling—a more serious Yondu.” Rooker noted the complex relationship between Yondu and Quill where “we don’t agree on things…they are constantly at each other’s throats [but] Yondu truly cares about this kid.” Gunn was reluctant to kill Yondu in the film, but ultimately felt that “this is a story about a father’s love for his son, his ultimate love, so much love that he sacrifices himself for that, and that’s what Yondu is. He is 100 percent Peter Quill’s father” despite Ego being Quill’s biological father. Before the release of Vol. 2, Rooker spent time on the set of Avengers: Infinity War (2018) to counteract rumors that the reason his character would not appear in that film was that he would die in this one. - Karen Gillan as Nebula:
An adopted daughter of Thanos who was raised with Gamora as sisters and a former enemy of the Guardians. Gillan stated the film would further explore the sisterly relationship between Nebula and Gamora, including their backstory “and what happened to these two girls growing up and actually how awful it was for them and how it has ruined their relationship”, adding “we’re [also] going to start to see how much pain [Thanos] actually caused [Nebula]… we really start to see the emotional crack in her character”. While Gillan had to shave her head for the first film, she only had to shave half of her head for the sequel, taking away the underneath part and leaving the top. Gillan’s makeup took two and a half hours to apply, down from five hours for the first film. - Pom Klementieff as Mantis:
A mantis-like creature and member of the Guardians with empathic powers who lives with Ego. Executive producer Jonathan Schwartz said the character “has never really experienced social interaction”, and learns about “social intricacies” from the other Guardians. Klementieff added, “She was really lonely and by herself, so it’s a completely new thing to meet these people and to discover new things”, comparing this to a child making awkward mistakes in social situations. Mantis and Drax have an “interesting” relationship in the film due to both being “complete odd balls”. Steve Englehart, Mantis’ co-creator, was disappointed with the character’s portrayal, saying, “That character has nothing to do with Mantis … I really don’t know why you would take a character who is as distinctive as Mantis is and do a completely different character and still call her Mantis.” - Sylvester Stallone as Stakar Ogord:
A high-ranking Ravager who holds a grudge against Yondu. Stallone likened his character’s relationship with Yondu to a father-son relationship, and called the confrontation they have in the film “pretty intense”. For Stakar’s acceptance of Yondu as a Ravager at the end of the film, Gunn asked Stallone to channel the “That’ll do, pig” line from the film Babe. Gunn described Stakar as “very important to the Marvel Universe”, and said that “it’s our plan to see more of Stallone” in future MCU films, though he was not sure then if that would include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). - Kurt Russell as Ego:
An ancient Celestial who is Quill’s father. Pratt was the first to suggest to Gunn that he consider Russell for the role; he portrays an avatar of Ego who is more traditionally seen in the comics in his “Living Planet” form. Russell appreciated why he was wanted for the role after seeing Pratt’s performance in the first film, feeling “That’s my kinda guy. I know where that kind of goof comes from.” He added, “I bring the right things [from previous roles]…I connected the dots from some of the things I’ve done in the past.” Ego replaces Quill’s original comic father of J’son, and was allowed to be used in the film after 20th Century Fox reached a deal with Marvel Studios to return the film rights of Ego for changing the power set of Negasonic Teenage Warhead, whom Fox wanted to use in Deadpool (2016). Gunn originally thought Marvel held the rights to the character, and stated that, had the deal with Fox not been made, there was “no back up plan, and it would [have been] nearly impossible to just drop another character in,” given the extensive work done surrounding the character. For the film’s opening sequence, set in 1980 Missouri, Aaron Schwartz served as facial reference for the young Ego.
RELEASE
May 5, 2017
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