We may be more than two years away from Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but that’s not going to stop anyone from wondering who is going to appear in Marvel’s next cosmic adventure. There are lots of things to consider, like the identity of Peter Quill’s father, who director James Gunn’s favorite character is, and what new superheroes will join the fray. Over the weekend, Gunn participated in a Q&A session and shed a little bit of light on the film, including at least one character who won’t appear.

When Marvel made that big announcement laying out Phase 3 of their Cinematic Universe (which has since been rearranged due to Spider-Man returning home), one of the new additions was Captain Marvel, who will get her own movie on November 2, 2018. She plays a key part in the deep space side of Marvel’s comics, and many suspected she could show up in Guardians 2. Gunn has said this isn’t the case before, and reiterated that fact this weekend.

Last summer, Guardians of the Galaxy opened up a whole new avenue for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to explore. Now that it’s fully ensconced in deep space, there are tons of new storylines, planets, and new creatures to explore, and one of the things fans are eager see are which new characters show up in Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Everyone has their beloved players they want to see in action, and that includes director James Gunn, who is in the unusual position of making this a reality, and he says he’s bringing his favorite out to play next time.

Guardians 2 doesn’t open until May 5, 2017, but Gunn already knows what story he wants to tell, and even though the execs at Marvel called it “risky” when he pitched it to them, they apparently signed off—the first film was more of a risk than the studio has ever taken, adapting one of their lesser known comics, and that paid off big time.

From the get go, Guardians of the Galaxy seemed like Marvel was taking a bit of a chance. After all, the main group of heroes is made up of criminals, murderers, and thugs, and two of the primary characters are a talking raccoon and an anthropomorphic alien tree. But it was a gamble that paid off, and huge, and while the sequel is in the works, that doesn’t mean that writer/director James Gunn is going to sit back and take the easy way out, that’s not his style.

While talking to the Allison Rosen is Your New Best Friend podcast, Gunn discussed his plan for Guardians of the Galaxy 2, and his idea for the story apparently worried some of the folks at Marvel, who called his idea “risky.”

As a fan, James Gunn is exactly the kind of director you want helming a movie. Sure, he makes wonderful nerdy films like Slither and Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s also super enthusiastic and loves to interact with fans. All through the process of Guardians, from preproduction to the home video release, he’s been all over social media, sharing images, news, extras, and generally looking like he’s having a really good time. He recently hosted a live commentary/Q&A session on his Facebook page, where fans could pop in their own copy of Guardians and watch along as he “talked,” and more than a few interesting tidbits about the movie, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy 2, came out.

If you, like most of us, have scoured the very depths of your Guardians Blu-ray, you know Gunn already recorded a commentary track, which is a fun, informative good time. But you also probably know that he loves to talk about his movie, and has a lot to say, so you know another go round isn’t super outlandish. He can fill the time.

There’s a lot to love about Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The crackerjack script by director James Gunn and Nicole Perlman is funny, fast-paced, and evocative of classic flicks like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The dynamite cast all inhabit their roles perfectly, and have (inter)stellar comedic chemistry with each other. And overseeing it all, Gunn conjures up a detailed, colorful world I can’t wait to return to again and again. And that word — “colorful” — is an important one. In a genre where outer space is all too often rendered in shades of black, white, and grey, Guardians plays with all the other crayons, and that creative choice owes a lot to the work of one artist — Chris Foss — and, even more specifically, to the image below.

Comic book movies are generally geared towards audiences with a broad knowledge of the source material, but in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, director James Gunn was bringing out characters that the majority of the world wasn’t familiar with at all. And because Marvel Comics characters aren’t solely tethered to Marvel Studios, there were a few characters Gunn wanted to use that had to be left behind, and it should surprise absolutely no one that these characters are even more obscure. Their names? Bug and Rom: SpaceKnight, both of which were on the tip of your tongue, I’m sure.