Marvel has released concept art for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which includes Star-Lord, Rocket, Drax, baby Groot, Yondu, Nebula, Gamora, and our first look at the character Mantis. Mantis will be played by Pom Klementieff (from Spike Lee’s Oldboy remake). Mantis has had several roles in the comics, including a brief stint on the Avengers, but little is know about her role in Guardians 2. Jonathan Schwartz had this to say about the character:
“She has never really experienced social interaction. Everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from.”
Schwartz also talks about Groot, whom we last saw as a little sproutling, not nearly brute force he had been:
“He doesn’t have the wisdom and experience of that Groot. He’s a younger Groot and a more rambunctious Groot. The question is, is he the same Groot, just smaller? Or is he a different Groot that’s sprung up from the seed of the first Groot?”
We’ll find out the answers to these questions when the film is released on May 5, 2017.