The first poster for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 left a little to be desired, as it more closely resembled a collection of photoshopped images from the first film rendered tastefully in black-and-white. Sure, the gang was all there. Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord and Zoe Saldana’s Gamora even seemed chummy, but it lacked the sort of tongue-in-cheek personality that made the first film such a monster hit. But now that the annual media onslaught that is the Super Bowl is upon us, Disney and Marvel Studios have seen fit to provide more Guardians goodies for fans, from a new trailer to plenty of new images revealing the film’s villain, and, finally, a new poster.

The new poster comes just a few months ahead of the film’s release, and it eschews the typical floating-head syndrome common to most mega-blockbusters. In fact, it eschews a great many things typical to most theatrical posters. The first thing you’ll notice is that Pratt’s handsome visage is nowhere to be seen. And the same goes for the rest of the cast too – well except for Baby Groot, on whom so much of the film’s early marketing has been centered. That’s not much of a surprise, as Groot – in classic or his new tiny form – became something of a sensation, even though his dialogue was somewhat limited.

But this smaller, cuter, even more marketable iteration of the character seems to have an all-new attitude lurking within his bark-lined exterior. Not only is he somewhat devious with a snappy sense of fashion, but as seen in the lower right-hand corner of the new poster, he’s ready to rock with the rest of the cast’s playlists. Check the poster out below:

The poster is playing a different game with regard to what it finds visually interesting, as it relies almost entirely on bright colored text to draw the viewer in. That alone might make it more appealing when compared what else is hanging up in theaters. While it lacks the classic superhero look that puts the characters front and center and in dynamic poses – or facing down a recently introduced villain, the poster more than makes up for it by continuing to push the idea of mixtapes and how important they are Peter Quill.

While all the actors and their respective characters get their own cassette tape, Kurt Russell’s character name is noticeably absent. Though who Russell is playing was never intended to be a closely guarded secret, it’s clear the studio has plans for introducing him other than listing Ego on the spine of some well-worn cassette case.

Next: Guardians of the Galaxy 2’s Extended Super Bowl Trailer

Source: Disney

  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release Date: 2017-05-05