‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’: Zoe Saldana Confirms Benicio Del Toro’s Return

Back in June, Benicio Del Toro didn’t seem too certain of his future in the MCU. While the actor said he’d love to keep developing his eccentric role as The Collector, he wasn’t sure if there was a place for him in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. As it turns out, there is, and his co-star Zoe Saldana has just confirmed it.

This isn’t the first time an actor was made aware of their casting in a Marvel film via one of their co-stars — if you’ll recall, Robert Downey Jr. broke the news of Mark Ruffalo’s return for Captain America: Civil War (much to Ruffalo’s surprise), though Hulk was ultimately cut from the film. Hopefully things will be a bit different in Del Toro’s case, as Saldana confirmed via a Facebook video with her husband that the actor will be returning forGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

The video is in Spanish, but Latino Review translated Saldana’s words, which include a congratulations to Del Toro for his performance in Sicario, adding, “See you on Guardians!”

The Collector played an important role in Guardians of the Galaxy, connecting our heroes to the Infinity Gauntlet and Thanos’ quest to obtain all six Infinity stones. Del Toro previously hinted at his possible future in the MCU while discussing the Collector’s purpose:

One of the most interesting things that I learned about him is the reasons that he’s collecting. He sees himself as putting together Noah’s Ark. He sees himself as having that responsibility. He’s collecting things, because eventually there’s going to be an apocalypse in the universe and he wants to get things to safety. That’s a really interesting aspect of the character.

It’s unclear how big Del Toro’s part will be in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, as the actor has signed on to star in Star Wars: Episode 8, which also films next year.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 arrives on May 5, 2017.