Yesterday, a report revealed thatMarvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2had just added its first newcast member, with French actressPom Klementieffcoming aboard. No details were given for the actress' character at the time, but it was revealed that the studio was specifically testing Asian actresses for the mystery role. Today we have a new report fromDeadlinethat claims she is playing theMarvelComics character Mantis. But that has not been confirmed.
Mantis first appeared in Avengers #112 (June 1973), created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck. Born in Hue, Vietnam, she is the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter of Gustav Brandt, a.k.a. Libra. During her childhood, she was left by her father at the Priests of Pama temple in Vietnam, who were part of the Kree alien race. She excelled atmartial artsbefore having her memory erased and sent out into the world, where she ended up meeting The Swordsman, becoming an ally toThe Avengersafter The Swordsman joined the team.
She first became aligned with theGuardians of the Galaxyduring the 2007 comic miniseriesAnnihilation Conquest: Star-Lord, taking on the role as the Guardians' counselor. She is heavily involved in recent comic book story lines including the Secret Invasion series. Most notably, Mantis does have close ties to Thanos, who is played byJosh Brolinin theMarvel Cinematic Universe. It’s certainly possible that she will have a connection to the Mad Titan in this upcoming movie, but no plot details have been revealed as of yet.
We also reported yesterday thatMatthew McConaugheyturned down the villain role inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with the studio expected to make their final decision on the role within the next two weeks.Chris Pratt(Star-Lord),Vin Diesel(Groot),Zoe Saldana(Gamora),Bradley Cooper(Rocket Raccoon) andDave Bautista(Drax the Destroyer) are all expected to reprise their roles in the sequel, which is expected to begin production early next year in Atlanta.James Gunnwill once again direct from his own script, with the studio already setting a June 17, 2025 release date.
The director has teased plenty of story details throughout the past year, including that fans will get a definitive answer as to who Star-Lord’s father really is, and it won’t be the same character as the comics, J’son. The filmmaker has also teased that, since the first movie revolved around mothers, the sequel will center on fathers. With production about to start in a few months, hopefully new details will surface soon. Are you excited that Mantis will be introduced inGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? Let us know what you think, and stay tuned for more on the sequel.
