Kurt Russell as Star-Lord’s father was Chris Pratt’s idea

The idea to cast Kurt Russell as Star-Lord’s father in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came from Chris Pratt. That’s according to director, James Gunn, who told Empire that the casting wasn’t “in [his] head initially”, but that he “would have been really disappointed” if Russell had turned down the chance to play Ego the Living Planet. He added, “if you have to cast anything, Kurt’s a pretty good way to go.”

Perhaps this explains a bit more why Pratt got all teary-eyed by Russell’s exit from the set of the film. For our thoughts on what the sequel needs to do to keep the franchise fresh, read this. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opens on the 28th of April 2017 in the UK and on May 5 in the US.