Director James Gunn Taking Risks With ‘Guardians Of the Galaxy 2’

Before the first Guardians Of The Galaxy hit the theaters late last year, it was considered one of Marvel’s biggest risks. Hardly anybody had heard of the comic book, let alone actually read it. Not to mention the fact that it had a talking raccoon in it. It had all the makings of being the strangest Marvel property to date. But audiences and critics alike fell in love with the movie, many calling it the Star Wars of its generation.

Not one to rest on his laurels, however, director James Gunn looks like he’s ready to take some more big risks with Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. On an upcoming episode of Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend, Gunn talks about how much of a risk Marvel feels Guardians 2 is (via Film Drunk).

“It’s not really based on anything. The story for Guardians 2 is an original story that I came up with that I started working on actually while I was shooting Guardians 1, and it’ll answer some of the questions that were put forth in the first movie about Peter Quill’s father and who he is and what’s going on with that. We’ll get to know some of the characters a little bit more and then we’re going to meet a couple of new characters who will be very important to Guardians movies and probably important to the Marvel Universe as a whole.”

Like the first film, it sounds like a good mix of standalone elements coupled with elements that tie into the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. And also like the first movie, it looks like its inspirations will only be loosely taken from the source material.

“It’s different than what’s in the comic books. Peter Quill’s father is somebody different in the comics. So then when the movie came out, we got green-lit on the sequel right away. I went in and I sat down with those guys and I’m like, ‘Okay, here’s what I think the sequel should be.’ And they were like, ‘Oh, whoa. That’s risky, but okay.’ Now I’m going to turn over the story in a few short weeks and we’ll find out how well it works.”

That’s all probably for the best. The fact remains that hardly anyone has actually read the Guardians Of The Galaxy comic books, and most every element of the film that people loved was likely an element that Gunn himself had a heavy hand in. He’s taken a risk before, so who’s to say it won’t work out in his favor again?

Guardians Of the Galaxy 2 is slated for a May release in 2017.