Guardians of the Galaxy has not even released yet and Marvel Studios’ confidence in the property shined bright during the Hall H presentation at Comic-Con today with the big announcement of Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Expected to hit theaters in 2017, Chris Pratt will be suiting up as Star Lord once again to defend the galaxy against its darkest foes. Learn more about this announcement after the break.

During the Hall H panel, Chris Pratt and director James Gunn made the big announcement, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be in cinemas on July 28, 2017. We’re less than a week away from the premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy and now we get to go in knowing our heroes will be back in three years time. Kind of ruins the surprise that any of these characters will die in the first movie doesn’t it? I have all the optimism and desire for GOTG to succeed, but is it necessary to announce a sequel before the box office numbers for this first picture to come out?

Here’s the official plot synopsis of Guardians of the Galaxy, courtesy of Marvel Studios:

An action-packed, epic space adventure, Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe. To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits—Rocket, a gun-toting raccoon, Groot, a tree-like humanoid, the deadly and enigmatic Gamora and the revenge-driven Drax the Destroyer. But when Quill discovers the true power of the orb and the menace it poses to the cosmos, he must do his best to rally his ragtag rivals for a last, desperate stand—with the galaxy’s fate in the balance.

Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy stars Chris Pratt as Pete Quill aka Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula, and Josh Brolin as Thanos.

Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters August 1, 2014.

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Source: Marvel