Hooked on the Feeling of Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

Three years ago, the unexpected summer hit Guardians of the Galaxy took the superhero movie world by storm. The little-known band of space adventuring misfits starred in Marvel Studio’s 10th feature film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The team consisting of the charismatic scavenger and outlaw Star Lord (Chris Pratt), deadly assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana), literal-minded knife nut Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), trigger-happy and sarcastic Rocket Racoon (Bradley Cooper), and the ever loving Groot (Vin Diesel) with his iconic “I am Groot” dialogue joined together to stop Ronan the Accuser from destroying the galaxy.

The Guardians come back this May with Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2, its title an homage to the franchise’s iconic mixed tapes, takes place two months after the events of the first movie. The Guardians take a job that gets them on the wrong side of the egotistical Sovereigns. Their leader, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), has the entire army hunting them, hiring the Ravagers from the previous film to do so. To complicate the matters, Peter meets his father, Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell) and his adoptive sister, the naive and empathic Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and recruit Gamora’s sadistic, fugitive sister Nebula (Karen Gillan) and tough-talking yet fun Yondu Udonta (Michael Rooker) who happens to have raised Peter since he first came to space. So many thrilling changes are keeping fans on their toes, and the hype only gets bigger and bigger each day drawing closer to the premiere date.

Guardians of the Galaxy has stood out from other superhero franchises thanks to it’s unique execution. The franchise wasn’t a household name prior to Summer 2014, and only die hard comic fans knew who they were. Thanks to the incredible mind of director James Gunn and his unorthodox approach to the movie, everyone loved it. The use of classic 70’s and 80’s rock is one of the highlights of the films. It was made immensely popular among audience members thanks to the mixtapes Star-Lord plays on his Walkman. The first movie’s main song “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede made the movie’s soundtrack reach the Billboard 200. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2 is expected to follow suit with the use of several catchy rock songs such as “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra, “Fox on the Run” by Sweet, and “Wham Bam Shang-A-Lang” by Silver. GotG also lives up to its hype because of how the movie doesn’t always take itself seriously. The space opera is full of jokes, tons of light hearted, and rarely misses out on the chance to poke fun or comedically kill the moment. Whether it is Chris Pratt who brought the funny with his not-so serious leadership, Drax’s inability to not be serious, Rocket’s dry wit, or all of the meme-worthy “I am Groot”s here and there, nobody can deny how the first movie made everyone almost pee their pants laughing, and the trailers for the second movie have everyone geared up for more in the sequel.

What excites fans even more is the return of the incredible cast. The first movie brought Chris Pratt’s acting ability to the big screen and highlighted his humor, badassery, and talent, making him an A-list star. Saldana’s Gamora was the straight man to the others’ wackiness, and her commanding and calm character has caused many to demand a Gamora spin-off. Bautista embodies Drax’s lack-of-humor-esque humor perfectly and has made him a fan favorite. Cooper and Diesel’s Rocket/Groot combo have made them pop culture icons and left the audience demanding more. Fans are psyched to have the hilarious Yondu and the woman of many depths Nebula join the team, plus so many are loving Mantis from just the trailers. These five and their new comrades will make a huge comeback with Guardians 2.