'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' cast Sylvester Stallone to appear more in the MCU

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” — let alone the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) as a whole — is no stranger to big-name stars joining their cast, be it as a main protagonist (as is the case with Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man since 2008) or in a supporting role. The latter applied to veteran action star Sylvester Stallone, who recently joined the MCU with a supporting role in the recently released “Vol. 2.” The “Rambo” star portrayed Stakar Ogord (also known as Starhawk) who is one of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. Stakar has a history with Yondu Udonta, portrayed by actor Michael Rooker, having exiled the character due to his stealing children and putting them up on the black market. Despite having only been a supporting actor in “Vol. 2,” Stallone is still being worked into the MCU as per “Guardians” writer and director, James Gunn.

“My plan is to see more of him,” Gunn told the Toronto Sun of his plans to incorporate Stallone further into the MCU. “I’m not sure about him appearing in Vol. 3, we’ll have to see about that, but it’s our plan to see more of Stallone. [Marvel studio boss] Kevin [Feige] and I are working on what is going to become of the Marvel Cosmic Universe and where it’s going to go. We plan to see the rest of them in the future.”

The "them" whom Gunn is referring to includes Stallone’s Starhawk, Michelle Yeoh’s Aleta Ogord, Michael Rosenbaum’s Martinex, Ving Rhames’ Charlie-27, CG character Krugarr and Mainframe, who is voiced by Miley Cyrus. The aforementioned characters make up the original Guardians of the Galaxy who precede the current Guardians lineup composed of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket Racoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel).

How Starhawk and his crew will be implemented further into the MCU — especially with Gunn being unsure about their inclusion in “Vol. 3” — is a subject that calls for a lot of discussion. Perhaps they will be included in “Avengers: Infinity War” or even the still untitled “Avengers 4.” There is also the possibility of the original Guardians crew getting their own spinoff series to go in line with the likes of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,” “Daredevil” and “Jessica Jones,” though at this point, any ideas that have not come from the folks at Marvel themselves remain to be speculation for now.

Previously, Gunn also clarified where “Vol. 3” stood within the MCU timeline. Via Twitter, the director divulged that “Vol. 3” would take place after both “Infinity War” and “Avengers 4.” However, how this will play out in the grand scheme of Marvel things is still up in the air.