Guardians of the Galaxy Director James Gunntook a second to point out the recent misconception about Groot’s rate of growth. This all comes in the wake of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, so if you haven’t seen that film yet, I would definitely turn back now.
(((Spoilers Ahead)))
Image: Marvel
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we see Groot as a toddler/ young child for most of the film. During one of the credits scenes we see him as a young adolescent. According to Gunn, most believe he’s a teenage in the scene, but this is not the case. He took to his Facebook page to set this straight, and to delve into the growth cycle of the regenerative Guardian:
On Groot and His Growth:
Potential SPOILER for those of you who haven’t watched Guardians of the GalaxyVol. 2 all the way to the end, and for those of you who don’t want to know anything about the Infinity War trailer that played at San Diego Comic Con and at D23.
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.
Image: Marvel Studios
In terms of how fast he 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.
You can see his actual post or like him at the link below:
(*UPDATE: The post’s privacy looks to have been changed. you can still get everything he said above in the transcript. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
He also dropped a short behind-the-scenes video about bringing the GOTG to life for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. You can check that out below as well:
How do you think adolescent Groot will differ from his previous incarnations in Infinity War? Let us know in the comments below.
