Excitement is ramping up for Marvel’s third phase of the MCU, and I know most of you are really looking forward to what James Gunn has in store for us in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. The writer/director had previously spoken to MTV about what fans should expect from the Guardians sequel, stating that he wanted to “take these characters forward in a new way and get to know them better in a way that isn’t going to be expected by the audience.”
Gunn also stated that the film would not be “made to move toward Infinity War”, so it comes as no surprise that Kevin Feige’s recent interview with Empire revealed that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 wouldn’t be using Thanos as a villain. In fact, he might not be in the film at all. “I wouldn’t look too hard in that movie for Thanos,” explains Feige.
This is good news for the Guardians. Now if they can keep the Infinity Stones out of the picture, it’ll be even better. Peter Quill and his alien chums have already had their Infinity Stone MacGuffin movie, and so has Thor. So I’m quite pleased that they’re letting the Guardians out of the mytharc box. These characters are a blast, and it’ll be fun to see them let loose on new planets and take on new, exciting villains. But we can’t forget that Marvel still has a lot of work to do if they want to tie all this Thanos/Infinity Gauntlet business up in Phase 3.
So if there won’t be any screen time from the big, ridge-faced purple villain, what should we expect? In short: more Guardians. Feige hinted, “There’ve been many different incarnations of the Guardians over the years in the comics and we’ll catch a glimpse of additions over the course of the movie.” Who will join the motley crew of the Milano? Vance Astro? Starhawk? Talon? Yondu, perhaps?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will blast into cinemas on May 2, 2017.