GUARDIANS OF
THE GALAXY VOL. 2.

BECOMING A FAMILY, THEN BEING ONE

WHY GUNN WANTED A SMALLER, MORE INTIMATE STORY

Gunn’s return to write and direct the sequel was confirmed in 2014, and the title was revealed in June 2015. Principal photography began on 17 February 2016 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Georgia, with a working title of Level Up, and wrapped on 16 June 2016.

In a set interview conducted in April 2016 and published on 6 February 2017, Gunn said he set out to write a story that was more intimate and personal, even though the set pieces grew anyway. He sums up the pair of films this way:

“the first film is about becoming a family, the second film is about being a family.”

James Gunn, on the two Guardians films

He added in the same interview that “this is truly my movie from start to finish” and that no restrictions had been placed on him.

EGO AND YONDU

A STORY ABOUT TWO FATHERS

Marvel’s Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con confirmed Kurt Russell as Star-Lord’s father on 23 July 2016. Unlike the comics, the film makes him Ego, the Living Planet. Gunn wrote on Facebook, “Yeah, his dad is a planet. Sort of.” In a July 2016 interview, Gunn said he wanted to keep the father’s identity from being the big stunner of the film, and to avoid a Star Wars-style reveal. He called Quill, Ego and Yondu a “dysfunctional family triad” and said they are the center of the movie.

Ego is the Celestial who killed Peter’s mother, Meredith, and Gunn had settled on that origin before choosing Ego as the character. Of Yondu, Gunn said: “this is a story about a father’s love for his son, his ultimate love.” In his set interview, Gunn calls Yondu Peter’s surrogate father and says Yondu and Nebula had grown from minor to major characters.

NEW CAST AND A SMALLER GROOT

NEW CAST MEMBERS AND A BABY GROOT

Pom Klementieff was cast as Mantis by the end of October 2015, and Elizabeth Debicki and Chris Sullivan were confirmed in undisclosed roles on 17 February 2016, with Ayesha and Taserface revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that July. Sylvester Stallone’s role as Stakar Ogord was revealed later. Matthew McConaughey was offered Ego and declined before Russell took it.

Groot returned as a sapling. Gunn described Baby Groot as the son of the first film’s Groot. Marvel was less confident about that change than about Ego, and Vin Diesel pitched his voice up and recorded lines for foreign-language releases. Gunn is quoted saying the change opened the film up creatively.

A SINGLE-SHOT DANCE AND A HARD SONG TO CLEAR

HOW THE OPENING SCENE AND THE MUSIC CAME TOGETHER

Framestore built the opening Baby Groot sequence, a two-and-a-half-minute “oner” that was actually divided into 11 shots shared among animators. Gunn was filmed performing the dance as a reference, and the first animation pass looked almost too human. The song also changed from “Livin’ Thing” to “Mr. Blue Sky,” so the studio effectively animated the sequence twice. Gunn later said “Mr. Blue Sky” was “the hardest of all” songs to clear for his Guardians films and that the clearance “almost didn’t happen.”

In January 2016 RED confirmed the film as the first major feature to shoot on its 8K Weapon camera, with Henry Braham as cinematographer. Awesome Mix Vol. 2 came out on 21 April 2017, debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 4, and finished 2017 as the eighth best-selling album in the US.

THE REWATCH

A $146.5 MILLION OPENING, AN 85% CRITICS SCORE AND FIVE CREDITS SCENES

The film opened to $146,510,104 in the US and Canada and went on to earn about $869 million worldwide against a $200 million budget. Early estimates on 8 May 2017 put the opening at $145 million, and the film beat its predecessor’s opening by 50 percent, the largest jump for a Marvel sequel at that point.

Rotten Tomatoes lists an 85% critics’ score from 422 reviews and an 87% audience score. Its consensus credits the film’s “action-packed plot, dazzling visuals, and irreverent humor.” Metacritic gives it 67 from 47 critics. It was nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards, which went to Blade Runner 2049. There are five credits scenes, four mid-credits and one post-credits, so stay to the end.

In the Marvel Marathon it sits in the MCU release order guide between Team Thor: Part 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming, in the MCU movies in order guide between Doctor Strange and Spider-Man: Homecoming, and in the Marvel movies in release order guide between Logan and Spider-Man: Homecoming. In the MCU timeline guide it follows Guardians of the Galaxy and comes before Daredevil Season 1.