14. Martinex T’Naga
If you’re anything like us, you probably noticed the crystal-skinned guy accompanying Stallone’s Stakar and thought “Woah, what’s that cool guy’s story?” Well, his name is Martinex T’Naga, an original Guardians of the Galaxy team member who was born on Pluto (no relation to this guy, unfortunately). He’s not all just good lucks though, as writer Dan Abnett describes him as “the brain” of the operation.
http://nerdist.com/comics-review-marvels-guardians-3000-1/ Source: Nerdist
The best part about Martinex though is who plays him in the film. Believe it or not, that’s Michael Rosenbaum — Smallville’s Lex Luthor — underneath all that crystal. Rosenbaum is actually a personal friend of James Gunn and his addition to the cast was announced really late, so you’d be forgiven for not realizing he was even in it!
https://geektyrant.com/news/smallvilles-michael-rosenbaum-and-sylvester-stallone-play-key-roles-in-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2 Source: GeekTyrant
13. Celestial
Kurt Russell’s Ego at one point notes that he’s a powerful being known as a Celestial, but he’s actually not the first Celestial we’ve seen in the MCU. In the first Guardians of the Galaxy, when The Collector (Benicio del Toro) is explaining the history of the Infinity Stones, we see a giant being wielding the purple Power Stone. This is Eson The Searcher, who is actually Peter Quill’s grandfather in the comics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqry-WxGPaY Source: YouTube
12. Egg Ship (Mork and Mindy)
Ego’s egg-shaped spaceship looks more than a little reminiscent of the ship Mork (Robin Williams) uses to get to Earth in the 1978 TV series Mork & Mindy. Peter Quill would be well familiarized with this show, which is possibly why Ego decides to give his ship this particular design. Nostalgia is a powerful tool, after all, and seeing a real life version of something out of his childhood would probably help set Peter’s mind at ease.
Come to think of it, we’re a little surprised the resemblance wasn’t explicitly stated in the film, but perhaps James Gunn thought it would be a bit on the nose for Peter to point this out and trusted audiences to make the connection.
http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Ego%27s_Ship Source: MCU Wiki
11. North By Northwest Homage?
The sibling rivalry between Gamora and Nebula is one of the best parts of Vol. 2 and we see it come to an explosive head after Nebula finds her sister on Ego’s world and tries to kill her with her ship. The sequence where Negula starts firing on Gamora is framed very similarly to a famous sequence from the classic Hitchcock film North by Northwest. We’re just going to go ahead and assume this was an intentional homage.
http://in.ign.com/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-1/97034/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-zoe-saldana-on-gamora-nebula-a Source: IGN