Lee Pace will not appear in Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, according to director James Gunn, who revealed the news last Thursday during a Facebook Q&A session.

Pace played the villainous Ronan the Accuser in last summer’s blockbuster hit Guardians Of The Galaxy, which is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and was famously challenged in the film to a dance-off by Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill aka Star-Lord.

During the lengthy Q&A, Gunn was asked if Ronan would return, to which he replied, “Who knows. But not in 2, no.”

When a fan later asked if there’s a chance we could see Pace return, noting that the actor recently said [in an interview with IGN] that he’d love to play the character again, Gunn replied, “Perhaps someday.”

Gunn, as well as Guardians stars Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn, answered hundreds of the over 2,000 questions asked in the Facebook Q&A. Below are some tidbits revealed in the Q&A regarding Guardians and its sequel.

Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.

• Why did Yondu decide not to deliver Peter to his father?

  James Gunn: That will be explained in 2.

• Will we ever discover who Star Lord’s father is?

  James Gunn: Yes. In GotG2.

• About if there’s talk of doing a Rocket and Groot spinoff.

  James Gunn: Only that I’VE talked about it a lot. There was even a time when I talked to Kevin about doing Rocket and Groot next BEFORE GotG2. But we decided against it.

• Can Rocket really understand what Groot says?

  James Gunn: Yes.

• ARE THERE PLANS TO INTRODUCE STAR LORD’S ELEMENT GUN?

  James Gunn: Not currently but I think about it sometimes.

• Lee Pace said he’d like to play Ronan again…do you think there’s a chance we could see him return? Pretty please?

  James Gunn: Perhaps someday.

• Can you see GOTG going beyond 2 movies? Could it become a trilogy?

  James Gunn: It could become a dozen movies as I see it, or more.

• If you could add any Marvel character into the next movie, who would you most like to add in?

  James Gunn: I’ve already added them and it’s a secret!

• I would like to know if Lee Pace was the first option to be Ronan, and how did you choose him?

  James Gunn: He auditioned for Star Lord and I liked him a lot, so I asked him to read for Ronan, and offered him the role. He was one of the only people to read for the role.

• How long have you known Nathan Fillion and can we expect him (or his voice) back in Guardians of the Galaxy 2?

  James Gunn: I would love to put Nathan in GotG2 if it could work out. He’s one of my very good friends and we love working together.

[Source: James Gunn via EW]

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