“Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn planned a sequel to the film before the Marvel movie became a success.
Gunn explained his creative process during an interview with The Huffington Post. The director was given a lot of creative liberties by Marvel and appreciated being able to pick apart source material to create a unique story.
"I didn't expect them to allow me to change the format of the spectacle film to such a great degree," Gunn said. "The things that Marvel really seemed to like the most as I was developing the movie were the things that seemed to be the most outlandish to me.
“The use of 1970s pop songs, the fact that there was so much humor, the fact that I have a seven-page scene where the characters are arguing in the beginning of the third act, which is strange,” he added. ‘Those were all the type of things that I thought were going to probably just get mushed out of the eventual movie."
However, what helped Gunn’s visionary skills the most was thinking about the sequel to the film before writing the original.
"I had given thought to 'Guardians 2' before I even set pen to paper on 'Guardians 1,'" the director told HuffPost. "This for me is the hopefully the springboard for what could be not only 'Guardians 2' but a whole plethora of new Marvel characters who are in outer space and all sorts of interesting things can happen with those people and creatures. I would love to be involved with those characters down the line."
Marvel President Kevin Feige also spoke about a “Guardians of the Galaxy” sequel during a separate interview with HuffPost. Feige explained talks of a second movie aren’t set in stone, as there is a paperwork process they must work through before making production official.
"Certainly in the two years that we spent together on this movie -- during production or in the hours and hours we spent together in post-production, finishing the film -- there can be causal comments that start as a joke or a 'What if?'" Feige said. "And we file them away, either officially on paper or in our heads, and have them at the ready when we start to officially start to put together the next film."
