'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' cast, release date news: Kurt Russell's character may be father of Star-Lord?

Guardians of the Galaxy - Star-LordMarvel Studios

Director James Gunn has revealed via Twitter that they were filming Kurt Russell's scenes for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." According to a report from Newsarama, the news may indicate that Russell is indeed playing Peter Quill aka Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt) father in the movie, a character wrapped in mystery in the first movie.

According to the report, it is possible that Russell is not playing Star-Lord's father because it may be too obvious or because solving the mystery too soon would be a disservice to the build-up from the first movie. However, the report also points out that there are many reasons why Russell could indeed be the main hero's father.

Newsarama points out that the other new cast members are playing completely different characters, such as Pom Klementieff playing Mantis and Elizabeth Debicki potentially playing Moondragon, the daughter of Drax (Dave Bautista) and later a student under the Eternal known as Mentor.

It is further speculated that Russell could be playing Mentor. If this proves true then it would fit in with many of the descriptions given in the first film. Mentor's white hair and elegance would fit with the "angelic" description given by Star-Lord's mother and would also fit with the "ancient race" described at the end of the movie.

However, What Culture also points out that this makes sense in terms of the film's plot. Mentor is not only a connection to Drax due to his act of saving Drax's daughter but he is also known as the father of the villain Thanos (Josh Brolin).

If this adapted in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" it would make Thanos and Star-Lord brothers and would build a stronger connection between "Guardians of the Galaxy" to the "Avengers" despite the two teams coming from different corners of the galaxy. 

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" opens in theaters on May 5, 2017.