Director James Gunn showed off a new piece of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 concept art today, and it could reveal a terrifying, Lovecraft-inspired alien in the film.
Gunn released the visual concept on his Twitter today in preparation for a preview that will appear in Empire Magazine. The art depicts the Guardians of the Galaxy fighting some kind of large, tentacled, space alien that looks absolutely hideous.
The creature illustrated in the artwork could be The Many-Angled Ones from the Marvel comics. These creatures come from a Lovecraft-inspired dimension populated entirely by Eldritch Abominations. As a result, the universe came to be known as the Cancerverse and the Many-Angled Ones a prominent enemy of the entire Marvel Universe.
While it’s not confirmed whether or not this creature is the Many-Angled One, or if it will even appear in the final film; the possibility of this creature’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 shows that Gunn really does plan on getting even weirder when it comes to the sequel. Especially after revealing that Kurt Russell will play a living planet.
The first Guardians of the Galaxy film was released in 2014 to huge critical and box-office acclaim. At the time, the film felt like the most independent of the Marvel films because of how little it had to do with the Avengers business on Earth. With Gunn confirming that the sequel won’t even feature Thanos, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 could be even more wild and unique when it releases May 5, 2017.
