One of the many mid-credits scenes in
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 showed audiences that
Groot (Vin Diesel) had grown quite a bit after the events of the film. This "adolescent" Groot also made an appearance in the
Avengers: Infinity War trailer that was screened at the D23 Expo and Comic-Con this past weekend, leaving some confused as to how much time had passed between both films, or if Groot just grew very slowly.
In his usual fashion,
Guardians director James Gunn took to his Facebook page to explain the finer details:
"People are asking me a lot about how fast Groot grows, because in his appearance in the Infinity War trailer he was an ADOLESCENT (not a "teen" as has been reported in many places). This is exactly the same state of growth you see in the post credits scene of Vol. 2: Adolescent Groot.
In terms of how fast Groot grows overall, I can tell you this: Baby Groot appears two months after the Infant Groot we see at the end of Vol. 1. The post-credits scene with Adolescent Groot and Peter Quill is YEARS after the ending of Vol. 2. I won't say exactly how many years at this time, but be clear that it took him a fair amount of time just to go from Baby Groot to Adolescent Groot. (As a side note, I'll point out that Peter Quill can obviously understand what "I am Groot" means in the post-credits scene, so somehow he's learned to understand him in the same way Rocket has).
Like dogs, who grow at a different rate than humans, and spend a different percentage of their lives in adolescence than humans do, Groot and Humans do not grow at some exact exchange rate. So, although two months seems to be about two years (as Baby Groot seems to behave roughly like a two year old), it is not fair to assume that every month is a year to Groot. He has an alien biology and ages in a completely different way than a human being. Different aspects of his growth may take longer or shorter than a human's.
And, other than that, I'm going to leave you in suspense - frankly, for quite a while, as it will take years to show you how Groot goes from infancy to adulthood."
From the sounds of Gunn's post we may not see Groot "fully grown" until the next installment of
Guardians of the Galaxy, but it seems he'll be in fighting form to take on Thanos with the rest of the Avengers!
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.