A lot of fans were shocked that Marvel didn’t end up unveiling a number of upcoming movies at the San Diego Comic-Con last night, especially as in previous years they have revealed a number of new titles which have been accompanied by titled cards and concept art. There was however still one very big announcement!

The first movie hasn’t even been released yet (though it does currently hold a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and star Chris Pratt (Star-Lord) appeared via video to announce that Guardians of the Galaxy 2 will be released on July 28th, 2017.

It’s a bold move and Marvel are clearly confident that Guardians of the Galaxy – which is set to be released on July 31st in the UK and on August 1st in the UK – will be a box office hit for them.

Though we already knew this, the studio also took the opportunity to confirm that Josh Brolin will play Thanos in Guardians of the Galaxy and beyond. “Josh brings all the weight and stature necessary for a character as iconic and significant as Thanos,” said Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige in a statement released online. “We’re incredibly excited for fans to see more of him as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand.”

There are still a lot of empty release date slots which have yet to be revealed by Marvel, but we’ll likely learn more about those over the coming weeks and months. What do you guys think?

You can read our review of Guardians of the Galaxy by clicking here.