‘Guardians Of The Galaxy 2’ Casting Underway, James Gunn Confirms Addition To Team, Is It An Avenger?

James Gunn has confirmed that casting for Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 has already begun, and he’s revealed that a new main character will be joining the intergalactic posse.

Over the weekend, Guardians Of The Galaxy’s writer and director took part in a Q&A session on Periscope, via Screen Rant, where he admitted that they’ve already begun casting work on new cast members for the film. Gunn made a reference to a “new Guardian,” while he confirmed that he’s even held preliminary talks with a specific actor about starring as the character.

But who could it be? Over the past few months, while Gunn’s been working on the script for the sequel, he’s made numerous references to who the potential new Guardian could be. The filmmaker previously made it clear that he wants two female characters to join Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, and Dave Bautista’s merry band of space warriors. This suggests that a female Guardian is the likely candidate for Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, and that potentially could mean that iconic heroines like Phyla-Vell, Mantis, or Moondragon could join.

However, there are several other options for who that could be. In the past James Gunn confirmed that Michael Rooker’s Yondu and his right-hand man Kragli (Sean Gunn) are confirmed returnees for the follow-up.

Looking back at the history of the Guardians Of The Galaxy comics, it’s most likely that Yondu will now become a firm member of the Guardians at some point in the future, especially since Gunn has already confirmed that the sequel will focus on the themes of fatherhood and he is the closest person that Star-Lord has to a father figure

It had previously been teased that The Avengers’ Hulk could turn up alongside the team at one point too; however, the conclusion of Avengers: Age Of Ultron means that is highly unlikely. Plus, Gunn told Playlist back in June 2014 that the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Planet Hulk crossover rumors were completely false as he insisted that GOTG is a completely different entity to Marvel’s other cinematic creations.

Meanwhile, Gunn also confirmed back in February that he will be introducing his favorite superhero in Guardians Of The Galaxy 2. However, he didn’t provide any details on who that character is.

“@MarioMurgueitio: James, is there a favorite superhero you want to bring to the big screen?!!” And will do so in GotG2!

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 28, 2015

[Image via Marvel Studios]