For superhero-obsessed cinema-goers, Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the most enjoyable films of 2014: a colourful, space-set adventure that took its inspiration from some of the stranger parts of the Marvel comics universe (it starred Vin Diesel as a talking tree, after all) and was unashamedly, exuberantly feel-good.
Expectations for James Gunn’s sequel are therefore sky high – and today, the director treated fans to a teaser image, some casting news, and the announcement that filming on the project has begun.
In a series of tweets, the director confirmed that actor Kurt Russell is joining the film – many fans expect him to be playing Star Lord’s mystery father, a figure alluded to in the first film. He also revealed that actress Pom Klementieff will play the alien Mantis, a figure that comic books fans will recognise from previous Guardians story, and that Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Macbeth) and Chris Sullivan (of the TV show The Knick) will also be joining the film.
The teaser image, shown below, shows the five main characters from the first film (Chris Pratt's Star Lord, Zoe Saldana's Gamora, Dave Bautista's Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper's Rocket and Diesel's Groot) in silhouette against a bright light.
Groot, fans will be pleased to see, is still the adorable miniature version we saw at the end of the last film. After sacrificing himself to save his friends, the tree-alien – who could only utter his name – regenerated as a tiny pot plant.
The expected release date for the film is in May 2017.
