A report from Entertainment Weekly reveals concept art for the upcoming "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." It showcases characters from the previous film such as Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), as well as allies such as Yondu (Michael Rooker) but it also showcases one brand new character named Mantis.
Shown standing between Star-Lord and Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis appears as a female warrior with antennae. The character is being played by Pom Klementieff who had starred in Spike Lee's remake of "Oldboy."
"She has never really experienced social interaction," explained executive producer Jonathan Schwartz. "Everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from."
Her allegiances have yet to be shown but based on the concept art and Schwartz' comments it appears that she will be joining the team as a protagonist, along with Yondue and Nebula who both were teetering between being an ally or enemy in the first film.
Schwartz also states that Groot should also be treated as a new character. This "Baby Groot" is said to have a different personality from the one from the first movie as he does not have the wisdom or experience as the older Groot.
Vin Diesel will still be voicing Baby Groot although his voice may be subject to editing and alteration to suit the younger character.
As revealed in a report from Screen Rant, Mantis primarily comes from the modern "Guardians of the Galaxy" comic books and has both fighting abilities and psychic abilites. She prioritizes in both empathy and telepathic powers and may even have pre-cognitive powers. In the comics, she was able to momentarily manipulate the characters to prevent the group from splitting.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" will be released in theaters on May 5, 2017.
