Lifestyle Events Comic-Con Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Meet new alien Mantis By Clark Collis Clark Collis Senior Writer EW's editorial guidelines Published on July 15, 2016 03:16PM EDT In this concept art for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, you can see all your favorites: Drax, Groot, Yondu, Star-Lord, Rocket, Nebula, and Gamora. But wait! Who’s that alien lady with the antennae? The answer is a brand-new character named Mantis, an acquaintance of the Guardians played by actress Pom Klementieff (Spike Lee’s Oldboy). “She has never really experienced social interaction,” says executive producer Jonathan Schwartz. “Everything she learns about dealing with people, she learns from the Guardians of the Galaxy, which is a very weird group to learn your social intricacies from.” Mantis may not be the only new character, according to Schwartz, who says audiences will be treated to a very different Groot from the stoic man-tree of the original 2014 film. “He doesn’t have the wisdom and experience of that Groot,” Schwartz says. “He’s a younger Groot and a more rambunctious Groot. The question is, is he the same Groot, just smaller? Or is he a different Groot that’s sprung up from the seed of the first Groot?” We’ll leaf it at that for now, except to say that Marvel will release the group portrait, drawn by Andy Park, as a special treat for fans attending San Diego’s Comic-Con International, which runs July 21-24. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is slated to hit theaters on May 5, 2017. RELATED VIDEO: Chris Pratt gets emotional over Kurt Russell on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 set A version of this story appears in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands now, or buy it here — and subscribe now for more exclusive interviews and photos, only in EW.