"Guardians of the Galaxy" represented an important turning point for Marvel Studios for several reasons. First, it proved that the Marvel brand could bring financial success to little known properties if done correctly on the big screen. Second, it cemented Marvel as a movie star maker as it established Chris Pratt as one of the most likable leading men in Hollywood. And third, it proved that not all of the MCU movies had to follow the same cookie-cutter formula. Even with all of these milestones, Marvel believes they can do even better with the sequel.
Cinema Blend caught up with Christopher Townsend, the film's VFX supervisor who is also working on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and he hinted that new film will be even bigger.
"We want to challenge and surprise the audience, just as much in the second one as we did in the first one," he said. "And obviously, one of the advantages we have going into the second film is that the audience already knows the characters and they've grown to love them, and so we don't have to try and prove that anymore. Now, it's a matter of trying to up the ante in terms of the visuals and also the storytelling. So I think it's really exciting."
"Guardians of the Galaxy" was nominated for two Academy Awards: visual effects and makeup/costumes. The film's CGI and effects were universally praised by critics so it's already a tough act to follow.
Director/writer James Gunn recently finished the second draft of the screenplay. While the sequel will feature less characters than its predecessor, it sounds as if there are still plenty of enjoyable surprises to be had.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" will be released on May 5, 2017.
