“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is doing everything bigger than the first movie in its Super Bowl LI trailer, including the number of Guardians taking care of the galaxy.
The trailer spotlighted all of the movie’s characters, starting with Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Rocket (voice of Bradley Cooper), Drax (Dave Bautista) and Baby Groot. But there are a few returning characters joining the fray, including Nebula (Karen Gillen) and Yondu (Michael Rooker). And then there’s Mantis (Pom Klementieff), who’s all-new to this outing. The Guardians started as a team of five, but whatever they’re facing in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is clearly going to require some backup.
The first movie’s trademark humor makes a return as Drax tries and fails to be a pal to Mantis at the end of the trailer, and Baby Groot welcomes Yondu to “the frickin’ Guardians — but he didn’t say frickin’.”
The trailer is full of other little teasers and tidbits of what fans can expect. There are starfighter battles like in the first film and plenty of other over-the-top action in the trailer, but nothing looks quite as cool as Gamora’s insanely giant, shoulder-wielded cannon — except maybe the giant, tentacle-covered mouth alien that Drax looks like he’s going to take down with just a pair of knives and a bad attitude.
It’s also great to see Nebula join the team, since she’s got plenty of baggage left over with adopted sister Gamora from their last encounter that’ll surely come up. And who knows what cool tricks Groot is going to roll out in his new baby form.
Music is a huge part of director James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” experience. If you’re wondering about the song in the trailer, it’s “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac. Surely it’ll be part of the movie’s classics-heavy soundtrack when we get the full film.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” hits theaters on May 5.