‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Cast, Updates: Vin Diesel Teases “Adorable” Baby Groot

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ star Vin Diesel teased that his character Baby Groot will be “adorable” and “goofy” in the new film. Meanwhile, director James Gunn admitted that he would like a Nebula spin-off film.

According to Collider, Diesel teased that his fan-favorite character Groot will be less menacing and more playful in director James Gunn’s upcoming sequel to the 2014 box office hit of the same name. In the preceding film, Groot was seen sacrificing himself to save the rest of the Guardians. He later emerged from a pot as a small version of himself, dubbed “Baby Groot”.

During an interview on the press junket for ‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’, Diesel was asked about the differences between the original Groot and the reincarnated Baby Groot.

He replied, “Yeah, there is a difference. He couldn’t be more naive as Baby Groot. 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.”

According to Comic Book Movie, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige also shared his thoughts on Baby Groot during a previous interview. Feige teased, “He remembers… He’s not mentally a baby, he is still Groot...I sort of equate it to Spock circa the end of Search for Spockand The Voyage Home.” 

Joining Diesel in the returning cast are Chris Pratt as Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket. It will also introduce Kurt Russell as Star-Lord’s father Ego, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Chris Sullivan as Taserface, and Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha.

Karen Gillan is returning as Nebula in a follow-up that would also explore her sisterly relationship with Gamora. According to We Got This Covered, Gunn admitted that he would like to see Nebula have her own standalone film.

The 46-year old director responded to a fan on Twitter saying, “I have a few favorites myself, but I agree that Nebula should lead her own film – it’s something I’ve thought about from the beginning.” Nebula was introduced as a villain in the first film but will play a key role in the sequel.

Feige also previously teased that Nebula would be a welcome staple in the franchise. He said, “If people know the comic lore, Nebula has a lot of varying different roles to play over the course of a lot of different titles in the comics… We have somebody like Karen, and you have a look that is so weird and so great. I think that’s something we’d all like to see again.” 

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ is an upcoming action-adventure and science-fiction film written and directed by James Gunn. It is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in the USA. It is scheduled to premiere in theaters on May 5, 2017.