James Gunn Shares New Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Cast Photo

The cast and crew of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 are on set and hard at work… though that doesn’t mean they’re not also having fun.

Writer/Director James Gunn posted a picture of the cast during rehearsal and blocking on social media, captioning the post, “High on believing. The Guardians of the Galaxy and frenemies.” He noted that Sean Gunn, his brother, was again pulling double duty as the “acting reference for Rocket,” a role he played behind-the-scenes on the first film before Bradley Cooper gave voice to the CGI character.

The director also replied to a fan excited about Mantis joining the film, saying “Pom [Klementieff] is amazing.” One of the new additions in the second film, Klementieff plays an alien named Mantis with empathic abilities and serious fighting skills.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is in production and principal photography now for a May 5, 2017 release. The entire principal cast and director James Gunn return from the first chapter.