The banter between the Guardians and revisiting of jokes/gags from the first movie (for example, once again a character dances to an "Awesome Mix" song - this time from Vol. 2 quickly re-establishes the now familiar, but still enjoyable dynamics between the core Guardians team members (Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and Groot), before jumping right into the first big action sequence of the film. 2 doubles-down on everything that audiences loved about its predecessor, to still-entertaining but diminished returns. In these respects, the second Guardians film is a solid-if-standard MCU followup more along the lines of Avengers: Age of Ultron, rather than one that sets a new benchmark a la Captain America: The Winter Soldier. 2 similarly continues to expand the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, putting the pieces into place for more exciting developments (and, of course, fan-favorite comic book characters) to come, without delivering an equally satisfying standalone MCU film, in the process. 2 is a sequel that fills in story gaps and paints certain plot points/characters from Gunn's first Guardians movie in a different light, more than it progresses the franchise's overarching narrative forward. Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Unfortunately for the Guardians, more trouble comes looking for them when the Sovereigns hire Peter's old boss Yondu (Michael Rooker) and his gang of Ravagers to hunt down and capture the "biggest a-holes in the galaxy." Peter, Gamora and Drax in turn agree to accompany Ego and his associate, the empath Mantis (Pom Klementieff) to Ego's planet, while Rocket and Baby Groot remain behind to repair their heavily-damaged ship. and who claims to be Peter's long-lost father.
The Guardians are on the verge of being destroyed by the Sovereigns' drone fleet when, out of nowhere, they are rescued by a mysterious being who calls himself Ego (Kurt Russell). One thing leads to another and the Guardians soon find themselves on the run from the Sovereigns, for some not-so-heroic behavior. Old habits die hard, however, and so the Guardians find out during a mission in which they are hired by a genetically-engineered race of super-beings known as the Sovereigns, led by one Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), to protect their highly-valuable batteries in exchange for a recently-captured Nebula (Karen Gillan). Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) and now-Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) - are officially in the hero business and have become famous across countless planets for their galaxy-saving deeds. Shortly after making a name for themselves in the year 2014, the Guardians of the Galaxy - Peter Jason Quill aka.