Guardians of the Galaxy 2 has added a new member to the team of galactic heroes, casting French actress Pom Klementieff, best known in the U.S. for her role in Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy. Klementieff’s role is being kept under wraps for now, but we’re told she’ll be playing the superhero Mantis. Introduced on the pages of Avengers #112 in 1973 and created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck, Mantis is the half-Vietnamese, half-German daughter of the antihero Libra, and a martial arts expert with psychic abilities and ties to the alien Kree race. Since 2007 the character has appeared as an uneasy member of the Guardians as a kind of ship’s counselor and has played a key role in recent storylines involving the team, most notably in the Secret Invasion crossover. The character is also tied closely to Thanos, played by Josh Brolin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel conducted a wide search for an actress of Asian descent, leading to much speculation that Mantis would appear in Guardians 2. Stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel are returning along with writer-director James Gunn. Klementieff is repped by Untitled Entertainment.
Source: Deadline