2017 has already had its fair share of successful blockbuster films, but there's a lot more to come. Right near the top of the list of films still to come for many fans, is Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the studio's long-awaited follow-up film to the beloved 2014 comic book movie hit. Set just a few months after the events of the first film, Vol. 2 picks up as the Guardians are still in the midst of trying to find themselves as a team, when they're hired yet again to try and solve a problem for a species of royal, powerful aliens. But when that job leads to unexpected problems for the group, they're forced to work together and figure out what it truly means to be a family, and at the center of that turmoil, surprisingly, is Vin Diesel's Baby Groot.
Still in the midst of regrowing by the time Guardians 2 begins, the character has already been a scene stealer in all of the trailers and marketing materials released from the film thus far. And he's going to be more important that just comic relief, with director James Gunn talking about how integral Baby Groot was to creating the story for the sequel. Apparently, these effects were even felt on the set.
According to Gunn (via Comic Book), the character's fresh immaturity and innocence allowed him to become a much more complex character this time around than he was in the original:
“I think he's a better-written character than the first Groot in some ways. Not that he was poorly written at all, but I think he's just more complete character."
Baby Groot is arguably one of the braver creative decisions that it looks like Gunn and Marvel made with this sequel. After all, despite the character's adorable behavior in the credits of the first film, no one could have expected that he'd still be young and immature by the time the Guardians returned to the big screen again. But with that being said, it's a decision that appears to have paid off in some very big ways for the filmmaker and studio.
Considering how beloved the adult Groot was in the first film as well, the director's evident excitement about keeping Groot a baby in the sequel should speak to just how much he brings to the overall dynamic of the group. Similar to the reveal that Kurt Russell's Ego the Living Planet would be Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt) father, it's not a decision that most other directors might have been comfortable making in a film of this size and scope, but just is further proof of how in tune with this world and these characters Gunn clearly is.
Source: Comic Book
