Originally published July 27, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
Following on from Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War reveal, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has taken to Twitter to discuss Groot’s appearance in the superhero ensemble, explaining why he looks the same as he did as ‘Adolescent Groot’ in the post-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, despite an in-universe time gap of around four years between the two movies. Here’s Gunn’s post from Facebook clearing things up:
“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.
In terms of how fast Groot 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.”
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As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.
Avengers: Infinity War opens on April 27th 2018 in the UK and May 4th 2018 in the US and will feature an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow), Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye), Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther), Tom Holland (Spider-Man), Sebastian Stan (Winter Soldier), Anthony Mackie (Falcon), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Paul Bettany (Vision), Elizabeth Olsen (Scarlet Witch), Don Cheadle (War Machine), Josh Brolin (Thanos), Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange), Benedict Wong (Wong), Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax), Bradley Cooper (Rocket), Sean Gunn (Rocket, Kraglin), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury), Cobie Smulders (Maria Hill), Benicio Del Toro (The Collector), Danai Gurira (Okoye), Winston Duke (M’Baku) and Peter Dinklage and Terry Notary in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
