After reducing leading man Chris Pratt to tears with a first draft of the sequel, director James Gunn has reaffirmed that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be a much more emotional affair than Star Lord’s original outing.
Speaking in an interview with Collider, the filmmaker trumpeted Marvel’s upcoming actioner as a bigger, yet smaller movie due to its intimate nature and focus on the titular motley crew.
“It’s gonna be exciting. I think it’s a more emotional movie. I think it’s both a bigger movie and a smaller movie ‘cause we focus more intensely on some of the characters. We get to learn a lot about fathers in the second movie, and I think we focus a lot on that.”
Though his identity was merely teased throughout the course of the first film, it seems as though Star Lord’s – aka Peter Quill – father will have an integral role in the superhero flick, perhaps lending it that emotional kicker that Gunn is referring to. Aside from reducing us into blubbering wrecks, the fact that the director is aiming to reign in the focus on these most atypical characters acts is music to our ears, given that part and parcel of Guardians‘ charm was its innate ability to humanize a group of outlaws.
With Pratt’s Star Lord in the driver’s seat, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will welcome back Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista along with Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as CG creations Groot and Rocket, respectively – though there doesn’t seem to be room for Benicio Del Toro’s The Collector.
Going off of Gunn’s comments and Pratt’s early reactions, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will likely have us all in a emotional heap when Marvel’s space-faring sequel beams into theaters in time for May 5, 2017.
