Why the Collector Won't Return in Guardians of the Galaxy 2

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 is just over a month away from finally arriving in theaters and most of the gang from the first movie is coming back. Most of them. There are a few noticeable absences, which include Benicio Del Toro as The Collector. We'll almost surely be seeing him again at some point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not this time around. Now director James Gunn has explained why he isn't back for the sequel.

James Gunn, as he regularly does, took to Facebook to answer a bunch of fan questions, many of which were related to Guardians of the Galaxy Vo. 2. At one point, someone asked why The Collector won't be featured in the movie and the director had a very logical response. Here is what he had to say about it.

I just talked to Benicio a couple weeks ago. He's a great actor, a great guy. The Collector wasn't right for the story of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because, although it's an incredibly enormous film, it's a much smaller film in certain ways with few characters. So, he just didn't fit in."

So, simply put, The Collector didn't fit into the narrative of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and that is why he isn't in the movie. While that may seem unexciting on its own, there is definitely something to look at here if you read between the lines. Benicio Del Toro is a reasonably big actor and Marvel probably wouldn't hate the idea of having him in the movie to help bolster the roster. Not that this movie is short on star power, but still. But apparently, the powers that be didn't make James Gunn put characters in this movie if they didn't fit. He clearly got to tell the story he wanted to tell and that is very good thing.