With the release date of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 fast approaching, Marvel has been amping up promotion for the film to get fans excited about the new adventure with their favorite team of misfit heroes. The trailers are packed with the same type of vintage tunes, explosive action, and laughs that audiences loved in the first outing, and a recent test screening got a perfect score from viewers.

What fans loved most, of course, was the Guardians themselves. We'll see our heroes being challenged in new ways in the sequel, struggling to get along in close quarters and dealing with their newfound fame as saviors of the universe. Executive producer Jonathan Schwartz has revealed that the the team will split apart very early on in the film, and a major arc of the story is whether they'll decide to all get back together again.

From what we've seen so far, however, there will still be plenty of chances to see the characters interacting, and verbally eviscerating each other with their trademark banter. The latest Guardians of the Galaxy 2 photo from Empire, which you can see below, shows Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) teaming up with Drax (Dave Bautista). Both are packing some serious firepower and look ready for a fight.

Peter is going to have a lot to deal with in the upcoming film, as he works to become a better leader, deals with the changes brought on by grabbing that Infinity Stone, and searches for his otherworldly father, Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell). Pratt, who said that working alongside Russell was "humbling and exceptional," also explained to Empire that GotG2 will only mirror the first film in the most important ways.

"You can expect to see everything you loved in the first movie, but you’re also going to… but it… oh, I should rephrase that. Don’t expect to see everything you saw in the first movie. But expect to be charmed and thrilled and entertained like you were watching the first movie."

Like in the original film, Drax will still be the uber-literal, aggressive warrior bent on revenge, but director James Gunn promises he'll be even funnier this time around. Some of that comedy will likely come from his antagonistic relationship with the impish Baby Groot, but from the looks of this latest photo, it's not going to be all about the laughs.

Gunn has also talked about the character's relationships and their own personal journeys of self-discovery as being a focus of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. A big part of what made the first film so special was that, in between all the jailbreaks, wisecracks, and universe-altering-power, was a story with some real emotional weight. Here's hoping that Pratt is right and we're going to get more of the same from the sequel.

NEXT: How the Avengers & Guardians of the Galaxy Could Meet

Source: Empire

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