James Gunn Describes His “Outlandish” Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Pitch

Marvel Studios cultivated a strong brand with classic super heroics mixed with heart, humor, and bombastic action. Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America were all different origin stories but tended to fall in the same mold as they built to the first meeting of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The first Avengers film was a huge risk, but it still felt like a classic Marvel movie.

Then Guardians of the Galaxy came and blew that paradigm to hell.

James Gunn’s ragtag group of reluctant heroes explored and saved the cosmos, taking viewers in wildly new and unexpected directions. No one really knew what to expect, and that came with the virtue of not having a ton of source material it was beholden to.

This allowed Gunn to use the entire Marvel Cosmic Universe as a source of inspiration with some relatively unknown characters as the conduits to explore all of the weird and wonderful nooks and crannies. The movie brought in a lot of the wildest concepts in the comics including the Celestials, the Elders, the Nova Corp, the Kree Empire, and everything in between.

UP NEXT: Rocket Just Can’t Help Himself In New Clips

So as crazy as that initial pitch might have been, Gunn knew he had to up the ante for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And though he knew about some of the weirder characters in the Marvel Universe, he didn’t know exactly how weird he could get until he saw how successful the first Guardians was.

As he told CinemaBlend at the press junket, also attended by our own Brandon Davis, Gunn was emboldened by the first film’s box office numbers to go even stranger.

I knew who Ego was as a character, I knew what he was able to do, but I didn’t initially know I was going to use Ego The Living Planet as that character – if that makes sense. But it was pretty early that I knew it was Ego, but I didn’t share that with Kevin [Feige] until after Guardians 1 made so much money. And that’s when I came in and said the dad is going to be a living planet!… It was an outlandish idea. I thought that they would balk at the idea of making Ego The Living Planet his parent.

It’s pretty cool that Gunn wasn’t restricted by the source material, because making Peter’s dad so integral to the story and having it turn out to be J’Son of Spartax would be a safe choice—too safe for the Guardians of the Galaxy. We admire the change in parentage, it allows the story to veer way into the deep end of weirdness.

Are you excited for the new adventures of Rocket, Groot, Star-Lord, Gamora, and Drax?! Let us know with your vote in the Anticipation Rankings below!

MORE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: Marvel Confirms Hall H Plans / Peter Finally Gets A Dance With Gamora In New Clip / Kevin Feige Says Marvel Will Stay With Humor Versus R-Ratings

Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2continues 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.