GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2 Bringing the Awesome Early on May 5, 2017

Crank up your copy of Awesome Mix Vol. 1 — Guardians of the Galaxy is returning early. Marvel Studios announced on Tuesday that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 would open on May 5, 2017.

We previously reported that the sequel to Marvel's hit "Guardians of the Galaxy" would cruise into theaters in July of 2017...but Star-Lord and his crew have had a change of mind!

The Guardians will now return May 5, 2017, with writer/director James Gunn also returning to helm our oddball heroes' next adventure.

Marvel and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn announced at Comic-Con over the summer that the sequel would open on July 28, 2017. It's hard to complain about Guardians of the Galaxy 2 moving up a few months. With the Iron Man series pretty much wrapped up, Guardians of the Galaxy is Marvel's crown jewel. Giving the sequel an early May release shows how much faith Marvel has in it.

Based on Marvel's habit of giving its sequels subtitles instead of just numbering them (with the exception of the Iron Man sequels), I wouldn't be shocked if the studio announced a subtitle for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 over the next few years.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will star Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. Gunn will return to direct.