When news broke that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had officially entered production ahead of its 2017 release, Marvel took the opportunity to roll out the striking first picture of James Gunn’s ragtag crew back and ready for more spacefaring action.
It was an effective tease too, showcasing five silhouettes standing tall against a blinding studio light. But far and away the one Guardian to attract the most attention was little baby Groot. Perched atop Drax’s hulking shoulders, it reaffirmed early reports that Guardians 2 will feature Vin Diesel’s amicable tree early on in his regenerative process, and has since spawned heated debate regarding whether or not Groot’s booming voice will be affected by the change.
One thing’s for sure: fans can look forward to a “goofy, adorable” baby Groot by the time Guardians 2 checks into theaters. At least, that’s according to Vin Diesel, who spoke to Collider about the subtle changes being made to his character.
“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.”
Diesel, who will most likely record his dialog long after principal photography has wrapped, went on to discuss James Gunn’s ambitious international plans for Guardians 2 – plans that will involve the actor performing Groot’s lines in 15 or 16 different languages.
“I think people are gonna love this movie. I think people are gonna love Guardians. I know that, on the first one, I, like, recorded six different languages, and now James Gunn wants to increase the number of languages we do this in. So, every ADR-ed line, every moment in the movie I have to do like 15, 16 times in different languages — which are cool because, you know, it means that my voice is being heard in countries where that’s not always the case, even with big movies that you do, like xXx or Fast [& Furious]. It’s usually voice actors in respective markets that say your lines and that’s not necessarily what the character is always. So, I love that, but it definitely makes it that much more challenging.”
With baby Groot in tow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is on course to slam into theaters on May 5, 2017. Now all we need is some Jackson 5 to be included on Awesome Mix Vol. 2.