Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Cast Discusses The Films' Insane Popularity

04/18/2017 09:59 am EDT

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy launched from a beloved but not widely known comic book to a worldwide phenomenon, and the franchise will only continue to get bigger once the anticipated Vol. 2 drops later this year. The cast showed up on Jimmy Kimmel to talk about the group's rise to fame, and how much it's grown since the last time they appeared on the show.

Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Dave Bautista, and Kurt Russell all appeared on the show, where Kimmell pointed to two fans in the audience, both wearing Star-Lord inspired jackets and Guardians gray shirts. Kimmel told the cast "It's funny because you guys were here for the last, the first movie and at that time the only two people who knew about the Guardians of the Galaxy were these two girls in the front audience here. It was them, they were alone and now it's the most popular thing ever."

Pratt remembers how surprised the press was at the time. "I remember overwhelmingly from people in the press when we were promoting the first movie the question they always asked was "so, you know, no one knows who the Guardians of the Galaxy are. Doesn't that freak you out? You might be in Marvel's first big flop, is that okay with you?" Oh god, oh no I got pretty nervous." Pratt was also asked if it was weird seeing people dressed up like him. "Well I see people dressed up like Peter Quill. It would be weird to see people dressed up like me."

Now it's hard to find anyone who doesn't know who Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Baby Groot or Rocket Racoon, is, and the crew doesn't show any signs of slowing down. You can find the synopsis for the film below, which currently has a 4.24 out of 5 on ComicBook.com's anticipation rankings.

Set to the backdrop of 'Awesome Mixtape #2,' Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team's adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill's true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes' aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn (Slither). The film marks the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (Spectre) as Drax; Vin Diesel (Furious 7) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (Jumper) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (The Big Short) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (The Knick, The Drop) and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight, The Thing).

Next up for Marvel is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 on May 5, 2017. Spider-Man: Homecoming lands on July 7, 2017, followed by Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017. After that Black Panther debuts on February 16, 2018, while Avengers: Infinity War hits theaters on May 4, 2018. Ant-Man and the Wasp is slated for July 6, 2018, followed by Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019.

MORE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: Watch Drax Get Eaten In Hilarious New Clip / Vol. 2 Has A Lot of Post-Credits Scenes / First Reactions To Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

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