The MCU is vast and with a pretty much constant of at least one movie a year, if not two or three, it’s not surprising that a whole half-decade has slipped by between now and the last Guardians of the Galaxy movie. But director James Gunn is well aware of the fact and celebrated today with an amazing throwback behind-the-scenes pic.
The massive array of star power — pun totally intended — includes the entire cast of 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Pictured are Sean Gunn, Kurt Russell, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Sylvester Stallone, Elizabeth Debicki, Pom Klementieff, and Dave Bautista, on the top row. Karen Gillan, Gunn himself, and Michael Rooker are seated on the bottom row. Not pictured are series regular voice actors Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel, who perform the voices of Rocket Raccoon and Groot respectively.
The actors are all out of costume and makeup in street clothes. One commenter did state that it would have been cool if they had done another pic in character, and he is most definitely correct, but it’s still a pretty impressive assemblage of talent regardless.
Gunn also pointed out that the anniversary fell exactly one year before the release of the third film in the franchise, the aptly titled Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Filming is expected to wrap on the production later this month.
In the meantime, fans will have no shortage of Guardian content, with the group appearing alongside Chris Hemsworth in July’s Thor: Love & Thunder and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special scheduled to release on Disney Plus in December. All of which are certainly worth celebrating.