Mantis’ Role In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Revealed

Joining the Guardians squad for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will be the Marvel Comics character of Mantis played by Pom Klementieff. The character was on display in the first full trailer for the upcoming sequel, unveiling her ability to interpret people’s feelings when touching them.

While on set of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in Atlanta, Georgia, ComicBook.com learned more about Mantis’ role in the film from Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and the film’s director James Gunn.

“Pom Klementieff is really amazing and is really unique,” Feige said. “She auditioned for the part many, many times, along with many, many other people, because James [Gunn] was doing something very unique with Mantis, who has never really encountered other people and other humans before, humanoids before, and makes Drax look like the most world-savvy person there is, and it’s a tough thing to do and to be endearing, and she’s pretty amazing at it. She comes into the story along with the Kurt Russell character, and doesn’t know the other characters and doesn’t know much of the world, and there is a, talking about the bondings between characters, she and Drax spend a lot of time together in this story as well.”

“Mantis in the comics is a highly complicated, weird character, whose history makes little sense,” Feige said. “I’m assuming we’re sort of clean-slating it here with this version of Mantis, or is the celestial Madonna stuff in play?”

“Those specifics are not in play, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less complicated and weird,” Feige said.

Continue to see what James Gunn had to say about the character!

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Gunn chimed in, excited to talk about the new character.

“I think Mantis is as odd and strange as Pom [Klementieff] is,” Gunn said. “And I think she is an incredibly unique character. And I think she’s funny as s—. And [Pom Klementieff]’s really funny. And she’s also a little creepy. And she’s great. She really is great. I remember when we were auditioning Star-Lord, you’re asking for this straight, white, dude and we screen tested 25 guys and it was really hard finding somebody great because, honestly, a lot of the really great guys in that age categories become movie stars. And to be auditioning Asian actresses was awesome. Truly, we screen tested four actresses who all four of them were totally incredible. It’s just Pom happened to fit the role the best, but it was a really amazing experience. And honestly, truly, an example of there’s a lot of actors out there who don’t get the opportunities of these lead roles that a regular white dude does.”

As we know, Chris Pratt ended up landing the role of Star-Lord for 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy and his since become the star of the Jurassic World franchise, as well. For Pom Klementieff, the role of Mantis could be the break out opportunity every actress hopes for. In any case, the character sounds like she will be a fun addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

MORE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2: Super Bowl Trailer / Hi-Res Photo Gallery / Is Ego The Living Planet in the Super Bowl Trailer? / Guardians Character Dances / Jams Gunn Talks Making GotGv2 Work with Infinity War / Taserface Revealed / New Poster Revealed / New Roster Revealed / Concept Art Shows Off Star-Lord’s Space Pirate Style / Guardians Star Comments On Drax’s New, Surprising Friendship / New Photos Released / Mantis Seemingly Confirmed For Avengers: Infinity War / Vin Diesel Says A Groot Solo Film Is Inevitable / First Look At Ego / Every Marvel Studios Hero Confirmed For 2017 Movies / 5 Awesome Guardians Who Aren’t In The Marvel Cinematic Universe Yet

Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters on May 5, 2017.