It's almost hard to believe, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is almost upon us. In less than week, the sequel to the breakout hit of 2014 will arrive in theaters, further expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and presumably setting up the Guardians' arrival on Earth for Infinity War. But the film will also feature the most adorable character to ever hit the MCU: Baby Groot. Vin Diesel's mute adjacent tree alien will be an infant through the runtime of Guardians 2, and now it appears that we didn't actually meet the adult version of Groot in the first film.
Vin Diesel recently spoke to USA Today ahead of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. It's here where he dropped a major truth bomb on MCU fans: Groot wasn't fully grown in the first movie. He said,
The first Groot we saw was a freshman in college. This (Guardians 2) Groot is in nursery school. Wait 'til we see the full-fledged working-man Groot. Wait 'til we see Groot.
Mic drop. Looks like everything we thought we knew about Groot has been wrong, as the original version that audiences became familiar with is just the young adult version of the tree alien.
Because Guardians of the Galaxy is such a high concept and wild silver screen adventure, there's a lot for audiences to process. Most audience members at Guardians were new to the property, so they had to take in the team members, Thanos, the Nova Corps, and the Ravagers. When Groot was first introduced, we just knew that he stuck with his buddy Rocket Raccoon. It seemed like the two were of equal maturity (or immaturity), so many of us believe that version of Groot was fully grown. But we were wrong.
This means that Groot's appearance in either Avengers: Infinity War or Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be the first time we'll see the fully grown Groot. And considering just how powerful he was as a college aged alien, then I can't imagine the abilities Groot will have his disposal when he's all grown up. With the battle against Thanos threatening the entire galaxy, the Avengers and Guardians are going to need all the help they can get.
It should also be interesting to see how Groot's personality changes as he ages. Baby Groot seems to be a wildcard for the Guardians, as they need to depend on the little tree during their intergalactic adventures. The college aged Groot is the type of alien to have a barfight and c-block Star-Lord and Gamora, so what about adult Groot? Maybe he'll be the one to whip the group into shape and make them a fully functional unit. We'll just have to wait and see.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters on May 5th. Be sure to check out our full 2017 premiere list and plan your next trip to the movies.
