FILM · 2017 · USA
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
- Directed by
- James Gunn
- Runtime
- 137 min
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
32 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill's true parentage.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (32)
- #001
In May 2014, Disney CEO Bob Iger said he believed the first Guardians of the Galaxy film had strong franchise potential and that the goal was to create another Avengers.
- #002
James Gunn, director and co-writer of the first Guardians of the Galaxy, said he wanted to return for a sequel and was contractually obligated to do so if asked.
- #003
In July 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy co-screenwriter Nicole Perlman confirmed a sequel was going to happen because of positive internal response at Disney, and that James Gunn would write and direct; at San Diego Comic-Con soon after, the sequel was given a release date of July 28, 2017.
- #004
Michael Rooker said he would return as Yondu Udonta and was looking forward to exploring new areas of the character; Chris Pratt confirmed the sequel would be one of his next projects; Bradley Cooper expressed interest and excitement about returning as Rocket; and Vin Diesel also confirmed he would return as Groot.
- #005
James Gunn removed Adam Warlock from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because the film was becoming too crowded, saying he did not want to lose Mantis, who was more organically part of the movie.
- #006
James Gunn said Marvel gave him some blowback for the Adam Warlock teaser in a mid-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, because Marvel felt fans would think the character would appear in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame; Gunn promised to use social media to clarify that Warlock would not be in either Avengers film.
- #007
James Gunn used Adam Warlock in his sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but found it difficult to feature the character in that story, describing it as fitting a weird square peg into a round hole.
- #008
James Gunn stated that he already knew much of the direction he wanted the sequel to take, having developed the backstory of Peter Quill, his father and Quill's history with Yondu while making the first film, with the aim of exploring it in a later movie.
- #009
James Gunn's first concept for a Guardians sequel centered on Rocket and Groot as the leads and would have detailed Rocket's origin, but he decided Peter Quill's origins needed to be told first.
- #010
James Gunn wanted the sequel to have a different structure from the first film, reasoning that audiences liked Guardians because it was fresh and different, so the second would be fresh and different as well.
- #011
James Gunn said he wanted Yondu's place in everything to make sense regarding his relationship to Quill and Quill's father, and revealed that Quill's father would not be J'son as in the comics.
- #012
James Gunn was less confident Marvel would approve Baby Groot than Ego, since adult Groot was the most popular character from the first film and he did not think they would want to risk a good thing; changing Groot opened the film up creatively for Gunn.
- #013
James Gunn placed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 two to three months after the first film, explaining that the group's fragile egos made a story set years later unworkable.
- #014
In December 2014, James Gunn said the story for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had been written and described it as constantly shifting but strong.
- #015
By early February 2015, James Gunn was a few short weeks from submitting a full story treatment to Marvel, which had initially considered his sequel idea risky.
- #016
While developing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, James Gunn considered killing off Gamora because Zoe Saldaña had originally expected to play the role only in the first film.
- #017
Contains a major spoiler — show
During months of planning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Russo brothers told James Gunn that Marvel intended Gamora to die in Infinity War instead.
- #018
Contains a major spoiler — show
James Gunn ultimately decided that Yondu Udonta should die at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 to rescue Quill, despite his initial reluctance to kill off Michael Rooker's character because of their friendship; in hindsight he felt the story set up Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 perfectly.
- #019
On June 2, 2015, James Gunn announced on social media that he had finished the first draft of the screenplay for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and that the title would not be simply Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
- #020
In the same week as his June 2, 2015 announcement, James Gunn confirmed that Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper would return as Gamora, Drax and Rocket, respectively, in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
- #021
At the end of June 2015, James Gunn announced that the film would be titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, explaining that he had considered many titles but chose Vol. 2 because the existing franchise name was already wordy and Marvel liked his choice.
- #022
In September 2015, James Gunn said in a Facebook post that he wanted to use the alien race Sneepers as background characters in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but Marvel's legal department advised against it because the name was too similar to the Icelandic word snípur. The department later cleared the use of Sneepers in the film, partly because of the media coverage Gunn's post received.
- #023
By the end of October 2015, Pom Klementieff was cast as Mantis in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It was also reported that Matthew McConaughey had recently turned down the film's villain role in favor of The Dark Tower (2017), saying he felt he would have been "an amendment" in Vol. 2 in "a colorful part [made] for another big-name actor".
- #024
In December, James Gunn said he was corresponding with John C. Reilly about reprising his role as Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, while Kurt Russell entered early talks to play Quill's father. After David Bowie died in January 2016, Gunn said there had been discussions for Bowie to appear in the film as a member of Yondu's original crew, and Gunn also stated he had completed the final draft of the script.
- #025
For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, prop master Russell Bobbitt could not locate the cassette decks used in the first film, and every Sony Walkman headset sourced for the sequel was broken. Sony had none available for filming, and three pairs Bobbitt found on eBay, costing about $1,800, were not the exact model, so he ultimately built six from scratch for the film.
- #026
Russell Bobbitt's prop work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 included two sets of blasters for Quill with removable cartridges, plus steampunk-style weapons and belts for the Ravagers. Four weapon designs were made for the Ravagers and then produced in 15 to 20 versions, since a single scene could feature as many as 85 to 95 Ravagers.
- #027
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's prop department created edible props for certain scenes, including a stinkbug-inspired insect made of chocolate and injected with black honey so the honey poured from the actor's mouth when bitten. A "yarrow root" was designed from enlarged pollen images and made with non-dairy white chocolate for on-screen eating.
- #028
Pre-shooting on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 began on February 11, 2016, at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, under the working title Level Up.
- #029
Henry Braham worked as cinematographer on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, while Scott Chambliss served as production designer.
- #030
According to Gunn, several crew members from the first Guardians film, including cinematographer Ben Davis and production designer Charles Wood, had signed on to Doctor Strange (2016) and could not work on Vol. 2 because that film's production schedule changed late.
- #031
The sequel used all 18 stages at Pinewood Atlanta Studios, more stage space than the first film, and James Gunn said it required more sets than its predecessor.
- #032
James Gunn said he preferred practical sets to balance the CGI, though the sequel featured fewer locations than the first film and focused on more specific, detailed places.
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work