During last month's San Diego Comic Con International, Marvel revealed the identity of Kurt Russell's character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He is indeed portraying the father of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, but unlike in the comics, it isn't Jason of Spartax. Instead, the character is Ego the Living Planet!
In an interview published in the latest issue of Empire, Chris Pratt talks about what it is like for Star-Lord to meet his long-lost old man in the upcoming James Gunn flick. And from what he says, it doesn't seem like things are going to be very easygoing between the two characters. According to the 37-year-old actor:
You're going to see these characters having to endure the realities of being in a family. You're talking about a guy who's been longing to know who his father is for a long time. He'll discover if that person lives up to the expectations he has in his head.
Star-Lord and Ego won't be the only ones in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 struggling with their new family dynamics. Zoe Saldana said a while ago that the relationship between the two siblings – her Gamora and Karen Gillian's Nebula - will be "very volatile" too.
James Gunn, the director of the May 5, 2017 sequel, as well as the original movie, describes Ego during the interview as "an ancient cosmic being who has been on the edges of the universe for aeons by himself". Unlike the comics, the character will be seen in human form in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and not literally as a living planet.
Gunn reveals that casting Kurt Russell as Ego wasn't his idea, but Chris Pratt’s. The director says:
He was actually not in my head initially, but one day Chris suggested him and I would have been really disappointed if he'd said no. Hey, if you have to cast anything, Kurt's a pretty good way to go.
