Guardians of the Galaxy 2 Mystery Role Revealed

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‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ Mystery Role Revealed

By Adam Chitwood

Published Oct 30, 2015

Pom Klementieff will be playing a character you may already be familiar with.

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Earlier this week, the first bit of new casting for the Marvel Studios sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 arrived in the form of French actress Pom Klementieff joining the cast. At the time, the nature of her character was being kept under wraps beyond the fact that it’s a “key role” in the follow-up. However, Deadline now has some insight on the character, citing sources telling them that Klementieff will be playing the superhero Mantis.

In the comics, Mantis is a half-Vietnamese half-German who studied with the alien Priests of Pama, a sect of the kree who believed that she may one day become the Celestial Madonna. She excelled in martial arts before eventually joining the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel Studios has yet to adapt a comics storyline word-for-word so one imagines some readjusting will take place, but given that Klementieff plays a “key role” it’s possible she’ll appear as a new member of the Guardians team in the follow-up.

This is only the first in what will likely be a string of new castings for the Marvel film, although Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Benicio Del Toro, and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are all returning. We learned yesterday that Marvel is aiming very high for the film’s villain, offering the part to Matthew McConaughey who subsequently passed. Filming is slated to begin in February or March of next year in Atlanta, so look for more updates soon. Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens in theaters on May 5, 2017.

For a refresher of Marvel Studios' release schedule, see below.