In a new interview writer/director James Gunn explains that the identity of Peter Star-Lord Quill’s father will be one of the key narrative elements in the sequel to Guardians of the Galaxy (see "'Guardians' Sequel Due on July 28, 2017").  Gunn is adamant that Star-Lord’s dad is "definitely not the character who is in the comics."  This apparently rules out J’son of Spartax, the Emperor of the Spartoi Empire, one of the more complex and interesting of the heroes in the cosmic annex of the Marvel Universe.  And, while Gunn did not rule out an appearance by Thanos, he certainly said nothing that would indicate that the Mad Titan will play a key role in Guardians 2.
 
Gunn told Empire Magazine: "There have been a lot of documents passed around about who Peter Quill’s father is between a select two or three of us.  That’s been part of the plan since the beginning, that’s something I had to work out before we shot the screenplay.  We wanted to make sure Yondu’s place in everything made sense and it does, so it’s all very specific stuff."
 
While Gunn would not reveal who Quill’s father will be in the movie continuity, he was very clear that it would not be J’son of Spartax, saying: "It’s definitely not the character who it is in the comics, I’ll say that much."
 
Gunn was less definitive concerning Thanos’ role in the Guardians sequel, but it does not appear that the Mad Titan will have a major role.  Gunn told Empire, "He will show up (in Guardians of the Galaxy 2) if he helps our story and he will not show up at all if not.  Thanos is not the most important thing in Guardians 2, that’s for damn sure.  There’s the Guardians themselves and other threats the Guardians are going to be facing that are not Thanos."