"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is shaping up to be quite a ride with more than its fair share of talent. Joining the motley crew of the first installment, four new cast members have been officially announced by the studio and director James Gunn.

There has been a lot of buzz about Kurt Russell joining the cast of "Guardians of the Galaxy" for the past few months. The actor elected to keep mum on the subject -- even going so far as dismissing the talks publicly -- Russell is now officially on board with the hotly-anticipated sequel. The speculation is he's going to be the absent father of Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), which was hinted as part of the sequel's story in the first film, but not a word of his character has been revealed.

Another new face joining the fun is Pom Klementieff of "Oldboy" fame. Gunn has already previously confirmed that the dark-haired actress will be playing Mantis, which is a character that is known to appear with the "Avengers" as well as "Guardians of the Galaxy 2," so Klementieff might be a familiar face to fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before long.

Other cast members who will be part of the hit Marvel film are relatively new stars Elizabeth Debicki ("Everest" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.") and Chris Sullivan ("The Knick"). Both have been confirmed alongside the better-known Russell and Klementieff, but it hasn't been divulged what roles the two will play in the next installment of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."

Familiar faces will also be back in the upcoming film. Cast members announced to be back include Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Karen Gillan, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.

Recently, Gunn took to Facebook to express his thoughts on "Deadpool." While he praised the movie, he cautioned the industry about simply copying the tone of the Marvel film instead of crafting something truly unique.

"I saw it happen with 'Guardians,'" he wrote. "It 'wasn't afraid to be fun' or it 'was colorful and funny' etc etc etc. And next thing I know I hear of a hundred film projects being set up 'like 'Guardians,' and I start seeing dozens of trailers exactly like the Guardians trailer with a big pop song and a bunch of quips."

The director added, "But hopefully in the midst of all this there will be a studio or two that will take the right lesson from this -- like Fox did with Guardians by green-lighting Deadpool -- and say, 'Boy, maybe we can give them something they don't already have.'"

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is slated for release on May 5, 2017.