A few days ago we re-posted a piece of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” concept art from James Gunn’s  facebook page.

Keen-eyed fans immediately had two questions:

#1: Is Yandu now considered to be one of the Guardians?  Gunn quickly replied, that yes he was!

#2: Who’s that alien lady with the antennae?

The answer is a brand-new character named Mantis, an acquaintance of the Guardians played by actress Pom Klementieff (Spike Lee’s Oldboy). “She has never really experienced social interaction,” says executive producer Jonathan Schwartz. “Everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from.”

Mantis may not be the only new character, according to Schwartz, who says audiences will be treated to a very different Groot from the stoic man-tree of the original 2014 film. “He doesn’t have the wisdom and experience of that Groot,” Schwartz says. “He’s a younger Groot and a more rambunctious Groot. The question is, is he the same Groot, just smaller? Or is he a different Groot that’s sprung up from the seed of the first Groot?”

We’ll leaf it at that for now, except to say that Marvel will release the group portrait, drawn by Andy Park, as a special treat for fans attending San Diego’s Comic-Con International, which runs July 21-24.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is slated to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.