With $300M already in the bank, Marvel and James Gunn are already looking forward to a Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, and they've got plenty of material to work with. There are more Infinity Gems out there, a possible Adam Warlock tease that got floated for eagle-eyed viewers, and most importantly the mystery of Star-Lord's father. There has been a ton of speculation already on his identity, but one thing everyone can agree on is that it won't be the same guy from the comics, and apparently Gunn agrees. He tells Empire...
Gunn: "There have been a lot of documents passed around about who Peter Quill’s father is between a select two or three of us. That’s been part of the plan since the beginning, that’s something I had to work out before we shot the screenplay. We wanted to make sure Yondu’s place in everything made sense and it does, so it’s all very specific stuff....It’s definitely not the character who it is in the comics, I’ll say that much."
In the comics, Star-Lord's daddy is J'Son, ruler of the alien Spartoi from the planet Spartax. But J'Son is not a major Marvel character, certainly not worthy of teasing. It's interesting that in a question about Star-Lord's father Gunn began talking about how Yondu (Michael Rooker) fit into the story. John C. Reilly's character also seems to have a fatherly relationship with Star-Lord and clearly knows more than he's letting on.
Gunn also talked about the presence of Thanos in the sequel and it sounds as if the Mad Titan will only be a factor if necessary....
Gunn: "He will show up [in the sequel] if he helps our story and he will not show up at all if not. Thanos is not the most important thing in Guardians 2, that’s for damn sure. There’s the Guardians themselves and other threats the Guardians are going to be facing that are not Thanos."
Even if Thanos doesn't appear there are others close to him who could cause trouble for the Guardians...
Gunn: "I think Thanos has been lonely for a long time. He can handle it. He’s used to his loneliness. He’s got some other kids out there. He’s got to look after them. Nebula’s probably the sweetest of them, which tells you what his kids are like..."
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is to hit theaters July 28th 2017.
