Avengers: Infinity War Directors Address That Groot/Stormbreaker Theory

Guardians Of The Galaxy turned Groot – the Flora Colossus from Planet X – into an instant icon, thanks to some excellent motion capture work and the vocal stylings of Vin Diesel. The events of that film led to something of a change for the character in Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2., though – with him having been, essentially, re-grown from a cutting.

As a result, Groot was seen as a child in both size and intellectual capacity. In the post-credits sequence, however, we got to meet teenage Groot, sulking about being lectured on room tidiness – and it’s this size in which he appeared in Avengers: Infinity War. Yes, in Joe and Anthony Russo’s event movie to end all event movies, Diesel’s fan favorite was all grown up, though by the end of the film, he was wiped out by Thanos’ snap of doom, along with most of the other heroes.

If you’ll recall, we see Rocket walking towards his best friend as Groot begins to turn to dust. But is this really it for the beloved character? Likely not, as we expect for most of the folks who fell victim to the Mad Titan’s snap to be brought back to life in Avengers 4 – probably via time travel. But for Groot in particular, fans have theorized that there’s another way he could return.

Earlier on in Infinity War, the little guy actually helps Thor forge Stormbreaker by offering up parts of himself to form the weapon’s handle – which has led some to wonder about the possibility of a new Groot spawning from this. It remains to be seen if that’ll happen, but directors Joe and Anthony Russo were asked for their thoughts on the matter during a recent Q&A with The Huffington Post and wouldn’t confirm or deny it, instead saying:

“I don’t know if every piece of him that detaches … can grow a future version of him, but who’s to say? That’s an interesting question.”

Of course, Groot’s spawned a new version of himself from less in the past, so it’s not too crazy to think he could do the same here. And with the Russos not ruling it out, it still remains a possibility.

Then again, as we mentioned above, right now it’s looking like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will be traveling back in time in Avengers 4 to stop Thanos from ever getting his hands on the Stones in the first place. And if they succeed, which we imagine they will, then Groot and the rest of the gang will still be alive and well, meaning there’ll be no reason for the Flora Colossus from Planet X to have to spawn a new version of himself.