Guardians of the Galaxy is a film that managed to win over even the most skeptical of fans thanks to its big heart. While yes, the tone and aesthetic were goofy as hell, at its core, it was a film about a band of outcasts finding a family in each other. Among these outcasts was the walking, talking tree thingy, Groot, voiced by Fast & Furious actor Vin Diesel.
The movie wasn’t without its sacrifices, however, in the closing minutes of its runtime, Groot sacrificed himself to save his fellow Guardians, resulting in his untimely demise. All that was left of him in the end was a single sprout, a sprout that will be known in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 as Baby Groot.
One big question to come out of this, however, is “what will Baby Groot sound like?” While Diesel’s deep voice was a good fit for Groot in his full-sized form, we couldn’t very well expect that he’d still be on board to voice Baby Groot, could we? In recent weeks, James Gunn seemed to allude to that very idea. He and Diesel posted a video chronicling Diesel’s reaction to some new footage for the film, and even more recently, Gunn shared a shot of a Groot-specific script for Diesel, wherein all of Groot’s “I am Groot” lines were given actual English translations, which would help to inform Diesel’s line deliveries.
The special Groot version of #GotGVol2 that only Vin Diesel & I have, where every Groot line is printed in English. pic.twitter.com/WGxY00Qsub
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 2, 2016
But what could we expect from Diesel’s performance? In response to a tweet from a fan, Gunn tweeted the following somewhat snarky response:
Simply because I’m getting asked this question more than any other. #BabyGroot #GotGVol2 pic.twitter.com/dNwjQOFGDO
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) September 4, 2016
Gunn very much has a good point. At the end of the day, Diesel is an actor, and he’ll modify his voice as necessary for the story. And, if need be, who’s to say that they won’t resort to voice modification after the fact?
Unfortunately, this still doesn’t necessarily answer a question of what the voice will actually be like. I guess we’ll have to wait for the first trailer to find out.
What kind of voice do you expect to hear from Baby Groot? Let us know in the comments down below!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters on May 5, 2017.
SOURCES: James Gunn (1), (2)