Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2: James Gunn Cut One Major Character From His Original Treatment

02/22/2017 08:19 am EST

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will see two big new additions to the cast in Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Ego (Kurt Russell), but at one point there was one more person on that list.

During ComicBook.com's recent visit to the Guardians Vol. 2 set, James Gunn was asked how much the script has evolved since his original 64-page treatment. Thematically it hasn't changed very much, but during the treatment phase a rather big change was made, and it involved cutting a character completely out of the story.

"I'll say one major thing that happened during the treatment phase, not even during the script phase, during the treatment phase there was another character that was a major character. That was a part of the treatment. Although it kind of worked generally in the story, I got to the place where there were too many characters. I think Civil War handles a lot of characters really well, but they're minor characters, and in this movie, every character has their own arc. Their own thing. And I thought it was one character too many, so I took one of the characters out of the story about half way through the treatment phase. But the eventual 70-page treatment, which is what it was, is what this movie is, and it has changed very, very little. And there's been almost no changes in the past three or four months before shooting; minor, minor lines here and there. We did rehearsals and some things I changed because of that. Now, who knows, we may get into post and go "oh my God, let's change everything," I hope that isn't the case, but I've been really fortunate."

Gunn didn't give that character a name and didn't even say if he or she was part of the Guardians or just an important supporting player. Once fans see the film, it might be a bit easer to figure out who would have fit within the constraints of the story.

Gunn hasn't had to change much during the fimling process, and most of that is due to a really sound script. "And part of it is because I knew on the last movie we did do a lot of changes later on. We did some changes in production. We did some changes in post-production, and I knew this time I was really fortunate to have such a headstart on the script. And to make that story really strong so we could have that from the beginning. And so that was something I focused on, was really dialing in the screenplay, the dialogue, everything before we ever even came here to Atlanta."

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).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.

MORE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: Concept Art Shows Off Star-Lord's Space Pirate Style / Guardians Star Comments On Drax's New, Surprising Friendship / New Photos Released / James Gunn Releases Another Piece Of Guardians VOL. 2 Score / Make Your Own Groot Cake / Mantis Seemingly Confirmed For Avengers: Infinity War / Vin Diesel Says A Groot Solo Film Is Inevitable / First Look At Ego / Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 LEGO Sets Revealed / Every Marvel Studios Hero Confirmed For 2017 Movies / Jennifer Lawrence Wants Mystique In Guardians Of The Galaxy / 5 Awesome Guardians Who Aren't In The Marvel Cinematic Universe Yet /Chris Pratt Raves About Guardians Vol. 2 / Jennifer Lawrence Reacts To Being Fan Cast As She-Groot

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