Guardians of the Galaxy 2

More space battles, more Chris Pratt banter, and plenty of adorable moments with Baby Groot, all to the soundtrack of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” What more could you ask for from the new trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?

If you've seen the first Guardians of the Galaxy film, you know Rocket Raccoon has a thing for big attitude, big guns and even bigger explosions. The little guy just likes to make things go boom and yell loudly about it. When you're as good at it as Rocket is, it's not hard to understand why. Judging by the few teasers and trailers we've seen for Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Rocket's taking things to a new level when it comes to the carnage he can create and celebrate. Now thanks to Hot Toys, we know for sure Rocket won't be speaking softly, and he definitely will be carrying a big heckin' gun.

FYI dudes, a new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 trailer is premiering tomorrow night on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (that guy sure is having a good week), and even though it’s only a day and some change away, Marvel has generously offered up a short teaser for James Gunn’s highly-anticipated sequel. In addition to showing off what appears to be the space-equivalent of a campfire, the new sneak peek reveals our first look at the return of Nebula, played by Karen Gillan.

With movies about aliens come lots of aliens, and with lots of aliens come lots of voiceovers. Yesterday, James Gunn revealed that none other than Rob Zombie has just finished up some voiceover recording work for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

If you've been waiting to see what the first half-of the year is going to look like when it comes to Marvel Legends, look no further. Hasbro unleashed a hefty salvo of new figures and sets tied to Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, and more at this year's Toy Fair. While Thor: Ragnarok was nowhere to be found, there are dozens of new figures planned to arrive already, so Marvel Legends fans of every size and scale will have plenty to look forward to in the coming months.

If I were a Marvel sales rep, I would get down on my knees every day and thank Thanos for the series of events that led to Baby Groot. Baby Groot might just be the pinnacle of Hollywood marketing; not only is his cute visage the perfect thing to slap on every action figure, lunch box, and stuffed animal from here to the moon, it’s also a character that sidesteps typical customer cynicism. If fans felt for one moment that Baby Groot was a thinly veiled attempt to sell them more junk, they would push back on James Gunn and Marvel with all their strength. But instead, we are treated to one of the baddest killing machines in the galaxy who happens to be totally adorable, too.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if art house cinema had the same weird toy leaks as blockbuster movies. These days, we’re more likely to see a character’s design leak thanks to a brand new action figure than a behind-the-scenes photo; what if the same thing happened in the world of independent cinema? What if we’d encountered Moonlight spoilers thanks to a new line of beach toys? Or if La La Land’s third act was spoiled due to a fully posable Ryan Gosling action figure? Come to think of it, I’d probably buy the heck out of a Moonlight bath toy. No shame there.

It’s funny how things work out. When Marvel was putting together the cast for Guardians of the Galaxy, they probably never dreamed that it would be former professional wrestler and MMA fighter Dave Bautista who would emerge as the film’s most likable character. And yet, with his deadpan line deliveries and awesome physicality, Bautista stood out among his live-action costars  —  I mean, nobody was going to beat Groot  —  as the funniest and most sympathetic of all the Guardians. Just like that, Bautista was a bonafide movie star and one of the biggest strengths of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When Guardians of the Galaxy hit theaters, many fans were especially excited that the movie featured not one, but two fantastic female characters. But then something weird happened: Gamora, one of the main five Guardians, was oddly absent from the majority of toys found in stores, her likeness and figurine even scrubbed from sets and merchandise purportedly featuring the whole team. When Avengers: Age of Ultron premiered, it was the same story over again. Both of these instances prompted the hashtags #WheresGamora and #WheresBlackWidow from fans who were sick of the lack of female representation for kids and adults alike. Kevin Feige, we’re all happy to hear, says that that won’t happen again.

We’ve got still more coverage from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for you. Following our visit to the set, and our conversation with Kevin Feige, here’s the full transcript (lightly edited for length, and removing a few spoilers that Marvel still doesn’t want out in the world) of the press’ lengthy chat with Guardians writer/director James Gunn. Topics included why Thanos and his Infinity Stones won’t show up this time around, how the sequel is both more intimate and more massive in scope, and the mystery character who Gunn originally wrote into the Guardians 2 script treatment, only to cut him (and he did say it was a him) out because there were just two many heroes at that point.