James Gunn is at the center of geek culture right now. Although all eyes are on his newest film, "Superman" (you can read /Film's review here), now that he's launched the brand new DCU, it is still worth looking back at how his impressive career has led him. Although he directed the delightful horror film "Slither" and the provocative superhero dark comedy "Super," Gunn's blockbuster sensibilities came into the broader public consciousness in 2014 when Marvel Studios released "Guardians of the Galaxy."
The film, about a ragtag group of misfits, was at the time considered a gamble for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was Gunn's signature sensibilities in humor, heart, spectacle, and music that helped turn the titular team into some of the most beloved characters in the entire MCU.
The first "Guardians of the Galaxy" film introduced the original roster of Guardians, which featured Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), Drax (Dave Bautista), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Rocket (Bradley Cooper). The characters became a found family through their epic journey together, and by the film's conclusion, audiences fell head over heels in love with this crew, especially Groot, whose baby form was featured everywhere after the film hit theaters. As Rocket describes, Groot's "vocabulistics" are limited to "I," "am," and "Groot," exclusively in that order, which may or may not have been much to James Gunn's annoyance during production.
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I Am Groot Was A Massive Chip On James Gunn's Shoulder
With James Gunn at the helm of what was shaping up to be Marvel Studios' biggest gamble to date, the co-writer/director of "Guardians of the Galaxy" knew that he had to make these colorful characters convincing enough for audiences to resonate with. Given that Groot was a sentient tree-like alien in the comics with an extremely-limited vocabulary, Gunn knew that recruiting a star like Vin Diesel, whose distinct voice is as recognizable as his physical presence on screen, was necessary in making sure that every one of his deliveries of "I am Groot" was what was needed for the character.
In a recent interview with GQ's "Iconic Films" series, James Gunn discussed bringing Groot to life in the first film, specifying the challenges of adapting the character to screen in an already-established MCU. Gunn specified that while Rocket only understood Groot early on, a la Han Solo and Chewbacca, the rest of the characters developed a strong bond with him in the following years, learning to understand him too. This development is beautifully reflected in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," where Groot says, "I love you guys," which affirms the audience's investment in him over the course of nine years on the big screen. According to Gunn, he found the process of working with Vin on all the different utterances of "I am Groot" extremely tedious:
"He did it thousands of times. That really wasn't me. I gave Vin [Diesel] lots of notes on how to say lines, but Vin is weird. He would have something in his head about the way he needed to say something, he'd just be, 'Again, again, again, again,' and he'd be saying like, 'I am Groot' so many times, like, frankly, it was very boring for me, because I had to sit there and just hear him saying, 'I am Groot,' in a way that I could not in any way discern the difference. It wasn't really me putting that on Vin, it was Vin doing that himself."
When Will We Next See Groot?
The last time we saw Groot, he was introduced in his largest form to date in the mid-credits sequence of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Now that the original team has been retired, Rocket Raccoon has succeeded Star-Lord as the new leader of the Guardians, which now features Groot, Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Cosmo the Spacedog (Maria Bakalova), Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), and Phyla (Kai Zen). The new team embarks on a mission, as Rocket plays Redbone's "Come and Get Your Love" on the Zune that Star-Lord gifted him.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" concluded with a message confirming that "The Legendary Star-Lord will return" meaning that Chris Pratt will likely be seen in a future MCU project at some point. Much to the surprise of many, Pratt's name was not featured in the viral "Avengers: Doomsday" cast announcement, so at this moment, he is unconfirmed to return in that project. Given that James Gunn ended his "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy on a definitive conclusion, we have yet to hear any news regarding the development of new projects featuring the updated roster of Guardians, so it is currently unknown when we will next see Groot. It would certainly be intriguing to see his current form in any of the upcoming "Avengers" projects, but at this time, fans can revisit Groot on his many MCU adventures on Disney+.
Meanwhile, audiences can check out James Gunn's "Superman," which is now playing in theaters.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
