Marvel Cinematic Universe: Every Upcoming Film Ranked By Anticipation

Release Date: May 5, 2017

It's incredible to believe that ahead of the release of the first Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014, naysayers were absolutely, positively sure that it was going to blow up in Marvel's face, that there was no way general audiences would buy into a movie involving a gun-toting, talking raccoon and a sentient tree, let alone that the film itself would actually work. Yet here we are, six months out from the release of Vol. 2, and characters with names like Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Drax, and Groot have become part of pop culture.

Though the first film helped to fully introduce the concept of Infinity Stones and push along the story of Thanos in the overall MCU, Vol. 2 looks like it'll continue to keep the Guardians in their own little corner rather than rush to push them into meeting all of the Earth-bound characters we've come to know, which is great. The time will come when they do - see: Infinity War - but for now, there's a whole universe of stories to explore and adventures to go on with these characters, whose ranks will be increasing with the addition of Yondu and Nebula and mysterious newcomer Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff.

The teaser trailer that dropped last month was enough to keep hype levels rising, but it didn't do much to reveal what we get to look forward to from a narrative perspective. It's been confirmed that Kurt Russell will be playing Star-Lord's father, Ego, and that that will play into the story, but beyond that, we'll have to keep waiting for the film's release to get a little closer for enlightenment. Whatever happens, it's almost impossible to not be excited to see how writer/director James Gunn can top himself in delivering something that can meet such high expectations.