There are very few certainties you can count on in this life. Death and taxes are often at the top of that list, but Baby Groot being cute af might soon usurp one of Benjamin Franklin's oldest adages. Hot Toys knows you're going to be unable to resist the sapling's charms, and that's why it's making a life-size version of the ittiest, bittiest Guardian of the Galaxy to add to your toy collection.

The sequel to 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy is fast approaching, only two short weeks out from today. But of course the media blitz has long since begun, wallpapering major cities with colorful posters depicting the main lineup of intergalactic crimefighters/occasional crime-doers. Sharp-eyed fans will notice some shifting personnel, too — blue-faced gun-for-hire Yondu (Michael Rooker) earned a lot of fans with his magical floating murder-arrow in the first film, and has been accordingly bumped up to main-cast status through sheer fan demand. As for new faces, Kurt Russell and Pom Klementieff bring some fresh blood to the franchise as Star-Lord’s long-lost father Ego and empath servant girl Mantis, respectively.

For fans of Marvel Comics, the fact that they’re doing two Infinity War movies without one key character present is a little strange. Adam Warlock is a very important component of the Infinity War saga, namely because he sort of starts the whole thing. But here’s some (possibly big) news: Adam Warlock was originally part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and James Gunn revealed that he will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. Well, well, well.

Thanos finally getting some real screen time in Avengers: Infinity War as the ultimate big bad is pretty exciting, but possibly even more exciting is the fact that we’ll also get to see our two favorite Marvel superhero teams come face-to-face for the first time. Until now, there hasn’t been any connective tissue to bridge the gap between the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but a foe like Thanos needs more than one group of heroes to take him down. But while these heroes are incredibly powerful, don’t expect them to buddy up with each other right off the bat.

With its entire team of heroes, new allies and villains, Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone, and five post-credits scenes, you can forgive Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for having to cut a few things. Nathan Fillion, who previously worked with James Gunn on Slither, filmed a cameo in the upcoming Marvel sequel, but it ultimately wound up on the cutting room floor. And although we’ll probably never get to see the actual scene, Fillion received permission to share a special behind-the-scenes photo of his character.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is just two short weeks away, which means Marvel is dropping a ton of teasy new material to get you pumped for the James Gunn-directed sequel. If you haven’t stopped listening to a self-made playlist of the “Awesome Mix Vol. 2” tracklist, unveiled this morning, hit pause and check out these three brand new clips.

I put on Guardians of the Galaxy on my Blu-ray player this morning, and have the movie going in the background while I work. I’m not paying too much attention, but every couple of minutes another great song comes on the soundtrack that sets my toe tapping. That would be the now-famous “Awesome Mix Vol. 1,” the cassette tape bequeathed to Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord by his dying mom. The keepsake, collecting some of the finest pop songs of the late ’70s and early ’80s, formed the spine of Guardians’ soundtrack, and even became a crucial plot point. And at the end of the film, Peter finds “Awesome Mix Vol. 2,” setting up the sequel, coming to theaters next month.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ad campaign is doing a great job at bombarding us all with content so that none of us can forget that the movie comes out in a little less than two weeks. The latest look at the movie features a quiet, somewhat sweet moment between Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora (Zoe Saldana), as he tries yet again to teach her how to love music just as much as he does.

While the post-credits scene was once a surprise specially afforded to those superfans with the dedication to sit through the final frames of a film, it’s now become par for the course, a de facto advertisement for whatever a franchise might have up its sleeve next. Marvel Studios has turned this into standard operating procedure, to the point where viewers expect nothing less than another tasty morsel of footage, the cinematic equivalent of the delicious fries waiting for you at the bottom of your McDonald’s bag. How to continue taking audiences off-guard, then? Marvel could do no post-credit scene at all, that’d certainly throw people for a loop. Or... they could do five.

The first press screenings of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 took place in New York and Los Angeles last night. Full reviews are embargoed until next week, but members of he media were allowed to tweet their reactions, so we’ve got a slew of mini-reviews to share today.