Against all odds, Guardians Of The Galaxy charmed the pants off everyone. Audiences, critics, and even those lucky actors who starred in the Marvel movie mega-hit. Just last week, Lee Pace – who played the blue hammer-wielding villain, Ronan The Accuser – came forth to reveal his passion for the franchise. In an interview with IGN, the actor confessed that he’d be over the moon if he were given the chance to reprise the role. While Ronan suffered a grisly fate at the end of the first flick, this is the movies, and as we all know, no death in a comic book feature is ever permanent.
However, Pace’s enthusiasm isn’t the issue. It’s whether or nor director James Gunn has room for him in the sequel, Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. And it seems that alas, we won’t be seeing the blue-skinned baddy. Yet.
The tidbit popped up while Gunn answered questions during a Facebook Q&A (via /Film) session with fans. After several inquiries concerning Pace’s return, the filmmaker shot back with the following two responses:
Overall, the responses don’t bode well for Pace. The possibility of Pace returning as Ronan isn’t ruled out entirely – “Who knows?” – but it’s not something Gunn seemed to be toying with for the recent future – “Perhaps someday,” “But not in 2, no.” The latter two comments definitely suggest that for the follow-up, Ronan’s resurrection won’t be on the cards.
This lines up with what we’ve heard is to come for the misfit bunch of loveable scamps. Thus far, the story for the galactic sequel hasn’t been revealed, hardly a surprise as its some two years away from release, but it’s expected that the Guardians will be up against the big bad, Thanos, once more.
For now, Pace is out, but Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper are expected to return for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, which opens on May 5th 2017.