"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" arrives in just over a year, and director James Gunn is already hard at work on the followup to his successful "Guardians of the Galaxy" film. During a Q&A session on Facebook, he answered a few fan questions and discussed the film, revealing that Thanos and the Infinity Stones will not appear in "Vol. 2," addressing whether or not he'll return for "Vol. 3," sharing how the new cast member blew him away during auditions and more.

"Thanos will not appear in 'Vol. 2.' No," he said. "As I've said before, Thanos isn't in this movie. I think he's gonna have a little bit to do and say when it comes to a certain wars and infinity. We've got other fish to fry in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.'"

"We're not really so much about the Infinity Stones in 'Guardians 2.' Is that a spoiler? It's not really a thing," he added.

"Guardians Of The Galaxy's" Chris Pratt Hits Play On "Awesome Mix Vol. 2"

As to how filming is going to far, he revealed, "We start filming... Thursday morning" and promised, "I will keep the 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' pictures coming. There are so many cool ones that I have that I want to show you guys, but of course I can't, because they have to do with new makeups and new characters and new costumes and new weapons and rigs and all sorts of stuff like that."

When asked if the interconnectedness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will impact "Vol. 2," he responded, "I'm dealing with this one story... It's not like I have to change something now for something in the future. It's more like whatever happens in the future will have to be changed by what's created now."

Even though he's just now headed into his second "Guardians" film, fans wanted to know if he would return for a third. "Do I have plans for a potential 'Vol. 3?' Yeah, if I did it -- but I'm not sure if I will."

"Right now, I'm really excited and happy to be working with Marvel and doing 'Vol. 2' and then I'm going to decide what I'm going to do after that," he shared. "I've been offered a lot of stuff but I really just want to get through 'Vol. 2.'"

He also discussed how well the new and old cast have blended together, even this early on. "We have a couple of primary cast members who are new, and they not only fit in really well, but they add to the overall feeling with everybody else," he said. "It's really exciting to have Karen Gillen and Michael Rooker around more."

"We have a new cast member playing a new member of the Guardians of the Galaxy and she was the most awesome and easiest person I've ever had to cast, and blew me the fuck away. Really. She's amazing and I can't wait to share her with the world," he added.

"Tyler Bates is back doing the score for 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,'" he explained in lieu of discussing "Awesome Mix Vol. 2." "He's already written a lot of music for the movie, so I've gotten a lot of music already, 'cause we play the score on set. Tyler and I are one of the few director-scorer teams where we write the music ahead of time. Boy, he's done one piece in particular, which I think is the greatest thing he's ever done.

As to whether or not Stan Lee will make another appearance, he said, "You guys know I'm a huge Stan Lee fan, and -- if Stan Lee is willing and able to appear in a cameo in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' -- then I hope he can do that."

Live Q&A now Hi!Posted by James Gunn on Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Directed by James Gunn and starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" opens on May 5, 2017.