We got a brief hint of Baby Groot in the first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in December, but a new teaser for the movie played during the Super Bowl has given us a new look.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 picks up after the events of the first one, which saw Groot sacrifice himself in order to protect the rest of the miscreant crew. As a result, he was transformed back into a tiny tree, and based on the footage we’ve seen in trailers so far, he’ll be forced to relearn everything.
Director James Gunn previously stated there was a reason for Baby Groot’s regeneration that had nothing to do with selling merchandise associated with the film. Gunn was accused of writing in Baby Groot as a novelty for the movie, but Gunn reiterated that wasn’t the case.
“For whatever reason, Groot just wasn't working,” Gunn admitted in a Facebook post. “It was then I came upon the idea of having Vol. 2 take place very shortly after the first film and for Groot to still be Baby Groot, with quite a lot to learn. Even though I had already long-ago decided on the other characters involved, this change opened up the whole movie for me and it suddenly all came together.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, which will reunite Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax and, of course, Baby Groot, will be released on May 5, 2017.
