Last week, if you were following along with our bevy of Comic-Con 2016 coverage, you know that we finally learned the identity of Kurt Russell’s character in the Marvel sequel Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. Of course, when Russell was first cast all the trades reported that he’d be playing Peter Quill’s father, but we still didn’t know exactly who that might be. Speculation ran rampant about a number of comics characters, but writer/director James Gunn took to the Comic-Con stage last week to reveal that yes, Kurt Russell is playing Chris Pratt’s father, but also, he’s playing Ego the Living Planet.

Now this was a pretty big reveal, as in the comics Ego is literally a living planet. So at some point in the Guardians universe, Ego took on a human form that resembles Snake Plissken and bumped uglies with Peter Quill’s mom. Shortly after the Comic-Con reveal however, fans began to wonder if Gunn and Marvel had just dropped a big spoiler. The answer should be obvious given how tight-lipped Marvel can be, but Gunn recently took to his Facebook page to address concerns, admitting that if he had it his way he’d tell folks nothing at all:

I get it. If we lived in a perfect world, I wouldn’t tell you ANYTHING before you walked in to see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. I wouldn’t tell you Groot was now Baby Groot, I wouldn’t tell you Mantis was in the movie, I wouldn’t say that Ayesha and Taserface are our antagonists, that Yondu and Nebula have incredibly important roles in the film, nor would I tell you that Quill’s father is Ego the Living Planet. However, the world is imperfect.

Indeed, Gunn goes on to explain exactly why revealing that Russell is playing Ego is not a spoiler:

Secondly, there are journalists online who love giving you scoops about characters and plot twists in upcoming films. Ego is such a big part of the movie, this was going to come out soon, as much as we’ve tried to hide it (when our online press day happened on set, Kurt Russell sat in a chair that read “J’son,” and all of our script pages and artwork featuring him used the same name). Frankly, I would rather be in control of the announcement myself than have it come out on SpoilersRUs.com in a few weeks. That said, knowing who Quill’s father is will not diminish your enjoyment of the film in any way. The story is not built to be a shocking twist in the same way Luke’s father was Darth, Soylent Green was people, Rosebud was a sled, or that that pretty woman from Crying Game had a penis (I guess I should have said spoilers before all that). Ego is the emotional center of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 from the beginning to the end, and is not a twist. And believe me – there are many, many more surprises we still have in store for you from Vol. 2 – hopefully the biggest of which is how much you’ll love the movie itself. Because, to me, that’s the only twist that matters.

So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth. While in an ideal world we’d get to go into every movie with a blank slate, rest assured knowing that Russell is playing Ego will not diminish your viewing experience.

For more on the film, peruse our recent links below—especially our Comic-Con interviews, as Kevin Feige may or may not have told us to expect the first trailer in November. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 opens in theaters on May 5, 2017.