When Guardians of the Galaxy was first announced, many were sceptical that such a bizarre idea could achieve success in mainstream cinema. It took Marvel a long time to build up to The Avengers, and for the general public to root for the likes of Thor and Iron Man. So, how were they going to get everyone immediately on board with a talking racoon, and a one-phrase humanoid tree? Well, we know how that turned out. However, director James Gunn has revealed that prior to Guardians’ massive success, he was hesitant to reveal any further plans to Marvel Studio head Kevin Feige. In this case: Ego the Living Planet as Star Lord’s father.
Speaking to Cinemablend, Gunn goes into greater detail, stating that: “I knew who Ego was as a character, I knew what he was able to do, but I didn’t initially know I was going to use Ego The Living Planet as that character – if that makes sense. But it was pretty early that I knew it was Ego, but I didn’t share that with Kevin [Feige] until after Guardians 1 made so much money [laughs]. And that’s when I came in and said the dad is going to be a living planet!… It was an outlandish idea. I thought that they would balk at the idea of making Ego The Living Planet his parent.”
At this point, we are definitely ready for a character like Ego on the big screen; Marvel has prepared its audience thoroughly. Now, with Thor: Ragnarok going full-cosmic, it looks like the Marvel Cinematic Universe is shooting for the stars, and not looking back.
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.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled for release on April 28th 2017 in the UK and on May 5th in the States, with director James Gunn reuniting with returning cast members Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Michael Rooker (Yondu), Glenn Close (Nova Prime), Sean Gunn (Kraglin) and Laura Haddock (Meredith Quill) alongside new additions Pom Klementieff (Oldboy) as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.) as Ayesha, Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight) as Ego the Living Planet, Chris Sullivan (The Drop) as Taserface, Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) as Tulik, Sylvester Stallone (Creed) as Stakar and Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville) in an as-yet-unrevealed role.
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