James Gunn Won’t Let New Characters Muddle the Story of Guardians Vol. 2

James Gunn is set on avoiding one of the biggest and most recognizable superhero sequel flaws: throwing too many new characters at the audience in place of substance. While Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will add characters, Gunn wants that to be secondary to the development of the heroes (and villains) he introduced in the first film.

In a Q&A with fans on Facebook, Gunn was asked about plans for new characters, and he shot down any ideas about additional Earthlings joining in the fun while confirming we can expect at least one new face:

I’m not going to give names and I won’t give numbers either, but there will be at least one new character. There will be no other humans—”humans” being earthlings—besides Quill.

Is that new character a villain to replace Ronan? Or is Nebula going to fill that role, and this new character could be … Quill’s dad? Or maybe both? Either way, Gunn wants to focus on the characters we already know and love, which I’m glad to hear after the first movie did a whole lot more telling than showing in terms of who these characters are.

With that in mind, he’s especially not into an Avengers team-up, so if that eventually happens, don’t expect it to be Gunn behind the wheel:

My interest is to tell stories that are deeper and better about the characters that we’ve already known. Even though I am adding characters—one character, at least, in [Vol. 2]—it really is about getting to know the characters better. It isn’t about mixing and matching characters. That’s kind of boring to me, actually.

That makes a lot of sense coming from someone already making movies with an Avengers-size team. There’s more than enough material for interesting character dynamics without adding anyone else. He did drop a tease that Adam Warlock will factor into the Guardians‘ involvement with the Avengers: Infinity War movies and eventual fallout, so who knows what we can expect in the galaxy beyond Vol. 2?

(via GamesRadar, image via Marvel Entertainment)

—Please make note of The Mary Sue’s general comment policy.—

Do you follow The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?