Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2: 20 New Details Just Revealed

For Gunn, the sequel is a much more personal story, even if the set-pieces ended up being markedly bigger than in its predecessor:

"I really set out to write a more intimate, personal story and I think it is, and then somehow in the midst of writing this more intimate, personal, emotional story the set pieces got five times as big. Like really. I feel great about it. Honestly, I’ve been focusing a lot on it because I think that I want this movie to be better in every aspect. And that includes that it’s funnier. The emotion works on a deeper level, which is probably the most important to me frankly. And then the fact that the action is bigger and more exciting."

But the core message seems to be dedicated to family:

"The first film is about becoming a family, the second film is about being a family. But I also think I had more science fiction concept around Quill and his relationship to his father, that’s a little bit of a bigger idea, and I think knew where the characters needed to go and I felt extremely freed by not having to set up so many major characters in 20 minutes. Like I did in the first movie, which was by far the biggest pain in the ass."

These characters are all outsiders and mostly all loners, so it's inevitable that their coming together and having to live in small confines would lead to some friction and some soul-searching. Plus we're going to see Star-Lord searching for his father, and refinding his surrogate father Yondu; Nebula and Gamora exploring their past and Yondu's isolation from his pirate "family".