Vin Diesel's
Groot made audiences cry tears of both sadness and joy in James Gunn's
Guardians of the Galaxy. The tree of few words may have been blown to smithereens at the climax of the film, but he returned as the newly-grown "Baby Groot" right before the credits. The sequel,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, takes place six months after the first film, and as such will have Groot remaining in his youthful, exuberant state.
According to Diesel, who will once again be voicing the character, audiences will be seeing a much more "naive" Groot next year, likening his previous mostly-grown state to a college-level student.
“He couldn’t be more naive as Baby Groot,” Diesel explained to
Collider.
“I always think of the Groot that we saw on the first Guardians as a college-level Groot, so he’s not fully grown yet, but he’s a man. And once he sacrifices himself at the end of the movie, now he has to start all over, so to speak, but we’re gonna see this goofy, adorable, baby Groot thing running around the screen and just learning as he goes.”
This somewhat conflicts with what Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige previously stated about Groot's return, saying the character wouldn't be mentally childlike.
“He remembers," Feige said.
"He’s not mentally a baby, he is still Groot...I sort of equate it to Spock circa the end of Search for Spock and The Voyage Home.”
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