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James Gunn Says Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Will Be A Fully Self-Contained Story

With Avengers: Infinity War set to be released next year, you'd think that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 would dedicate much of its running time to setting up that highly anticipated release. After all, the team is expected to play a pivotal role there and Thanos is a villain that they have some history with. However, director James Gunn has now made it clear that the sequel is going to be a self-contained story. While it could still set the stage for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the now confirmed post-credits scene, don't expect a great deal of world building in the film itself.

With Avengers: Infinity War set to be released next year, you’d think that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 would dedicate much of its running time to setting up that highly anticipated release. After all, the team is expected to play a pivotal role there and Thanos is a villain that they have some history with. However, director James Gunn has now made it clear that the sequel is going to be a self-contained story. While it could still set the stage for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the now confirmed post-credits scene, don’t expect a great deal of world building in the film itself.

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Here’s what Gunn had to share when asked about it in a recent interview:

“It’s a very self-enclosed story. I deal with the Marvel guys every day on where we’re going forward. But basically the story [in Vol. 2] is about the Guardians and it has no connection to the rest of the Marvel universe and none were ever mandated.”

The filmmaker then went on to add that the huge scale of the MCU (and the fact this will be the studio’s fifteenth release) hasn’t gotten in the way of the story he wanted to tell with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The first film’s massive success no doubt helped matters in that respect, too.

“I think people, in general, probably overestimate the amount of overall planning there is with the Marvel universe.A t the end of the day, we’re telling a long-form story that has many different moving parts and within those stories there’s a lot of freedom to do what you want. And I’ve been lucky in that the most creatively fulfilling freeing experience I’ve ever had making a film has been on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Without a doubt.”

A third chapter in this beloved franchise has now been confirmed, so it’ll be interesting to see if Gunn does anything to set the stage for that here. After all, the first movie featured a fair few nods to the mystery surrounding Star-Lord’s father, so fans will do well to keep an eye out for any similar teases in the follow-up.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to be released on May 5th.