james gunn

Well that was quick! Not long after debuting the first official teaser poster, James Gunn has revealed the first honest-to-goodness teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — and if you were digging that poster, you’re going to love this teaser, which features the delightfully familiar sound of “ooga chaka, ooga chaka, ooga ooga chaka.” Everyone sing along!

Doctor Strange could come out of nowhere and wow us all, but barring that, it’s been a lackluster year for superheroes at the movies. And as if responding to our culturewide cry for help (or at least a little fun from time to time), James Gunn and the crowd-pleasing Guardians of the Galaxy franchise have returned to get audiences psyched up for the impending sequel, cheekily titled Vol. 2, as if the second installment in cassette-obsessed Star-Lord’s mixtape series. The first theatrical poster is here at last, obviously:

James Gunn has some really good ideas, but his latest might just be the best yet. While answering a fan’s question on Twitter, the Guardians of the Galaxy director suggested that there’s one character from the films who deserves their own solo spinoff movie — and no, it’s not Baby Groot (although Baby Groot’s Outer Space Adventures sounds like a pretty dope Pixar short, to be honest).

For those of us who were even more enamored than we thought we’d be by a talking raccoon and a slightly-less-wordy walking tree, Guardians of the Galaxy was an absolute delight. Luckily, all of our favorites are returning for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and we’ll get to see our favorite Vin Diesel-voiced sapling once again, now quite a bit diminished in size from his last appearance. For the first film, Diesel learned how to say his character’s recurring line “I am Groot” in six different languages, and now he says the director of the sequel is making him learn almost three times that many.

When it comes to superhero movies, women are often relegated to the margins, sculpted as one-dimensional, or exploited as objects of desire. Look at any cover of a superhero film featuring a woman and you’ll find her in poses that emphasize her body or show her as a damsel in distress love interest. We’re only just getting DC’s Wonder Woman next year, but Marvel Studios is also looking to make efforts improving female representation.

When you think of films that feature a huge body count, the titles that come to mind are likely horror flicks, historical dramas about war and mass tragedy, or something directed by Zack Snyder. A fun and family-friendly Marvel superhero outing is probably the last thing you’d think to put on a list of the deadliest movies of all time — much less at the top of it, but that’s exactly where Guardian

Are you sitting down? You might want to be seated when you read this. You should also be warned of potential spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so if you’re the sort of Marvel fan who likes to go in knowing as little as possible (how do you live without the internet??), you might not want to read on. But if you’re curious to learn more about Baby Groot, James Gunn has revealed something very interesting, and a little sad?

“I am Groot.” With the exception of one small variation, this is the only thing we hear from Vin Diesel’s Groot throughout Guardians of the Galaxy. What makes this such a funny running joke isn’t the fact that he only says the one phrase, though; it’s the fact that Rocket Raccoon understands him perfectly, unearthing complicated sentiments and emotions from three simple words. Translating Groot’s dialogue would be like un-bleeping the profanity in an episode of South Park: you pretty much already know what Groot is saying, and the jokes just work better this way.

It won’t be too much longer (November, to be exact) before we see the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but to help tide you over, James Gunn has debuted some new concept art — okay, concept art isn’t a trailer, but this particular image does offer a sneak peek at a particularly ferocious new alien villain battling the core Guardians crew, including a ridiculously adorable Baby Groot.

This week, details emerged that actress Zendaya would be playing an updated version of Mary Jane Watson in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. While many people greeted this news with good cheer, a very vocal minority of people had some pretty nasty things to say about the changes made to their beloved character. Yesterday, James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy, took to Facebook to share his nuanced thoughts regarding the controversy.