Vin Diesel teases Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off starring Groot and Rocket

Rocket (the Raccoon, but don't call him that) and Groot in artwork for 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. (Credit: Marvel)
Rocket (the Raccoon, but don’t call him that) and Groot in artwork for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. (Credit: Marvel)

Vin Diesel has revealed that ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ director James Gunn wants to put together a spin-off starring fan-favourite characters Groot and Rocket.

The ‘Fast and Furious’ star, who voices the tree-like alien in the film and next year’s sequel, also teased that the character will fight Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk down the line.

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Diesel made the comments in an interview with Screen Junkies carried out at this past weekend’s (2-4 December) Comic Con in Brazil.

Posed a question about whether Groot and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man would ever be in the same movie, Diesel said: “That’s an interesting question. I think, if it’s up to James Gunn, you’re going to see a Groot/Rocket movie after [‘Avengers:] Infinity War’. I think that’s highly possible. We shall see.

The ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ themselves – Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Dave Bautista’s Drax, Bradley Cooper’s Rocket and Diesel’s Groot – return in ‘Vol 2’ next Spring.

It was confirmed in August that the group of space-faring misfits will appear in 2018’s ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ alongside other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.

“I know that, somewhere in the universe, you’re going to see Groot and Hulk battle,” Diesel revealed, though he didn’t specify if he meant in ‘Infinity War’. “I know it. You can write it somewhere, you’re going to see that poster: Groot vs Hulk.”

The pair of powerful heroes have fought before, in 1976’s ‘The Incredible Hulk Annual #5’ in which Groot (a villain at the time) is one of six monsters sent to fight Bruce Banner’s alter-ego.

Should the pair fight, Groot will need to do some growing first. While fully grown in the original movie, after sacrificing himself and nearly dying, the character begins to grow back. In ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ he’ll be in his (adorable but still deadly) Baby Groot form.

Baby Groot stole the show in the most recent trailer for the sequel, which is embedded below. The film will be released on 28 April 2017.