The question of whether Guardians of the Galaxy will light up the box office no longer hangs over whether we'll get a sequel (that being said, Guardians of the Galaxy will absolutely light up the box office this weekend). Marvel Studios has already confirmed a second helping of Guardians is in the works, with a 2017 release date locked in. Furthermore, James Gunn announced he'll return to write and direct. Everything's coming up Rocket Raccoon!

Actually, everything's coming up Yondu. In an interview with Film Diver, Gunn made it clear that Michael Rooker's blue-skinned alien thief is "a very important character" in his vision of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we can expect to see much more of him, as well as Karen Gillen's Nebula, in the Guardians sequel.

"I think Yondu is a very important character, a really important character in this universe," he said, "and I think Nebula is really important too, and so I think we’ll see more of both of those characters."

Indeed, Gunn seems to know exactly where he wants to take the Guardians in round two.

"I know a lot of where I want to go," he said. "I have a lot of ideas for stories and characters that are going to appear, and there are documents written up, that some people have, about Peter Quill’s father and his relationship, a lot of stuff about Yondu and a lot of stuff about Drax that nobody knows."

"There are a lot of things that are part of the overall schematic that already exist, not to mention a lot of stuff about all of the cultures," he continued. "There’s a lot of stuff about Xandarian and Kree culture that I’ve written down or I have in my head, as well as Krylorians and Ravagers."

We'll find out all about Gunn's planned flightpath when Guardians lands this weekend, followed by the arrival of Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on July 28, 2017.