Recently, fans unearthed an awesome easter egg in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that suggested Star-Lord and Mantis might actually be siblings. The scene which reveals that Ego had been with countless women across the cosmos in order to father lots of Celestial children features Peter’s dad with a woman of Mantis’ species. Director James Gunn recently confirmed that we were on the right track, though he suggested that this didn’t mean there was necessarily a family connection between the two Guardians.
Now, some new – well, resurfaced – evidence suggests that Gunn might be hiding the truth here, as actress Jennifer Sharpe posted on her Instagram account last year that she shot scenes for Vol. 2 which would’ve featured her as Mantis’ mom had they not been cut. Interestingly, her post has since been edited to remove all mention of her character’s relation to Mantis and the deleted scene she was in.
Check out a screenshot of the original below:
Sharpe still has some sort of role in the theatrical version of Guardians 2, though. Gunn revealed on Facebook that she and Kurt Russell served as models for the CGI animated sculptures that appear in the scene where Ego’s philandering is revealed. As per the edits to Sharpe’s Intagram post, he doesn’t mention that she initially had a bigger role in the production.
So, what do we make of this? Well, it’s clear that Gunn changed his mind about revealing that Star-Lord and Mantis were related at some stage of production, instead leaving the fact that Ego might have been her dad as an easter egg for the fans to pick up on. This could be why Sharpe’s post was edited, so as not to mislead Marvel diehards of a fact that might not be canon anymore.
Alternatively, it’s possible that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will pick up on this loose thread and make it clear that Peter and Mantis are half-siblings. This could be why Gunn’s playing it coy and why Sharpe edited her caption, because Mantis’ true parentage will play a role in the next entry in the franchise. Time will tell, but for now, you can definitely color us intrigued.