Aside from taking time to watch the new Daredevil series or see AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, James Gunn is knee-deep in finishing the screenplay for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2. Of course, all the usual suspects will return in Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel, but Gunn has also let slip a few other morsels lately. He's announced the return of Karen Gillan's Nebula, and more recently talked about what thematic material we can expect to see in the sequel, as well as the soundtrack which he expects will top the first!
James Gunn on writing GUARDIANS 2:
I'm just about to start the screenplay so it's a heavy time. I'm going to lock myself away. I'm not going to see anybody. Going to become very very stinky. Going to eat a lot of crap food and not have much of a life for a little while, while I'm working on the screenplay. But I'm really excited about it and I feel really good about the story. It really is something unique, so I feel good about it.
On the theme of GUARDIANS 2:
There's a lot of stuff I'm excited about in the new movie. Listen, I'm still excited about Star-Lord's character and where he goes. At its heart, Guardians is a story about families, and if the first film was about him and his mother, this is a story about fathers. So it's exciting to go there.
Regarding the soundtrack:
Originally people kept asking me, ‘Don't you feel a lot of pressure to do the second movie?’ and I didn't in general. But I did feel a little pressure for the soundtrack because so many people loved it and we went platinum and all that other stuff. But I feel like the soundtrack in the second one is better. I feel like it's better, so I'm excited about it.
Teasing a third GUARDIANS:
I knew for a long time what the story of the second one was gonna be. And the third one!
Gunn is probably just teasing us about a third GUARDIANS flick at this point, but I don't think anyone would be opposed. It's going to be a long two years until GUARDIANS 2 is up on theater screens, but at least between now and then we have AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, ANT-MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR and DOCTOR STRANGE to keep us company, and that's not even including what Marvel's bringing to Netflix! The first GUARDIANS film entertained comic fans and non-fans alike. Here's hoping Gunn and Co. can capture that same energy in their second endeavor.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 will hit theaters on May 5, 2017.