At a special screening and Q&A for Deadpool this weekend, writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese had a surprising revelation when they spoke about a character trade between 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios that took place last year. The pair revealed (via The Playlist) that when writing the character Negasonic Teenage Warhead for the film, they needed to get permission from Marvel since they radically altered her appearance and powers. Marvel was willing to accept the changes on the condition that Fox give them a character from their library, specifically Ego the Living Planet, who will be played by Kurt Russell in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
Since this story broke, director James Gunn has taken to his official Facebook page to talk even more about the behind-the-scenes maneuvering, saying:
“When I first pitched Ego as Quill’s father, I THOUGHT we owned the character. After I had worked out a very elaborate story with Ego the Living Planet as a very important part of the Marvel cosmic universe, I learned that we actually didn’t own the character. I had no back up plan, and it would be nearly impossible to just drop another character in. Thank God Fox came to us and wanted to make a trade…”
In related Guardians of the Galaxy news, star Karren Gillan took to Twitter to reveal that some additional photoraphy for the sequel is taking place, saying:
Guardians of the Galaxy reshoots today! So excited to be back with the gang! #easiestreshootsever #causethemovieisalreadyinsanelygood
— Karen Gillan (@karengillan) November 14, 2016
The will also star Chris Pratt as Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana as Gamora; Dave Bautista as Drax; Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker as Yondu; and Sean Gunn as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan and Kurt Russell.
Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Look for it to hit the big screen May 5, 2017.
