James Gunn Preparing for Guardians of the Galaxy Sequel

Guardians of the Galaxy only hit theaters today, but Marvel has fast-tracked a sequel for a July 28, 2017 release. James Gunn is set to return, and the director spoke about his plans for a second movie.

"Yes, I suppose this is ballsy considering the film hasn't even been released yet," he wrote on his Facebook page, "but I guess I just can't let go of that damn raccoon!" Bradley Cooper voices the raccoon and is likely to steal the show.

Interestingly enough, Gunn actually has a year longer to work on the sequel than he did for the first movie. "Frankly, I just want to put my all into the next movie," he told The Wall Street Journal's Speakeasy blog. "I'm going to sleep for three months, and then hopefully we'll get back into the Guardians and take them down the road. I've had ideas from the beginning about where these characters go and what can happen with them, so I'm just excited about choosing what aspect of that journey we choose to do next? I think [solo movies] are always possible, but I doubt that would be the next step."

In another interview with The Playlist, the director revealed he has ideas for the characters in the next installment. "I know a lot of things about Drax and Rocket that have yet to come" he said. "And it's really not so much about what those stories are but how those will be partitioned in films - how much we tell in any one of these films. I know a lot about Peter Quill's father and there's only three people that do - me, Kevin Feige, and Michael Rooker. And I only told Rooker because he's delivering him to his father, so I had to tell him the backstory of all that."

For more on the sequel's possibilities, head over to Comic Book Movie, which has compiled a wealth of quotes from Gunn.