After Marvel announced I Am Groot was receiving a second season, the question inevitably must be asked: why? The answer may be found in another hit show on Disney Plus that has been taking the world by storm.
I Am Groot, as charming as it is, could hardly be described as content worthy of being locked behind a streaming service subscription. The first season consisted of ultra-brief slapstick-focused antics of everyone’s favorite sentient tree, with each episode hardly ever coming close to cracking the five-minute mark. It is content that is arguably something more appropriate for a YouTube original web series, if anything. Heck, I bet Marvel could just drop the episodes on Instagram if they really wanted to.
Though I Am Groot can hardly be considered a crowd-pleaser for the neck-bearded man-children most associated with Marvel fandom, like myself, it does serve up the kind of entertainment most relevant to Disney Plus’ fastest-growing fanbase: small children.
You see, the Australian-based kid’s show Bluey helped catapult Disney Plus to achieve record-breaking streaming numbers in June, as we previously reported. As Francisca Santos explained in the article, citing Nielsen data:
“The numbers also show that the platform grew its overall viewership, and that funnily enough, the age group that is responsible for this growth ranges between the ages of 2-11 and 12-17.”
With more small children now part of the Disney Plus subscriber base, thanks to Bluey, it only makes sense for the streaming platform to want to put out even more content that caters to them so that they do not eventually drop off. Thus, this may be the real reason I Am Groot is getting a season two.
However, maybe this speculation is completely off the mark and Groot will have some kind of universe-shattering plot point involving the Watcher that will forever alter the MCU timeline, as has seemingly been teased in the first trailer.
I Am Groot season two debuts on Disney Plus on Sept. 6.
Published: Aug 8, 2023 12:25 pm