While MCU fans impatiently wait for upcoming blockbuster outings like November's Eternals and December's Spider-Man: No Way Home, there is plenty of work left on future Phase 4 entries to complete. The last project in that group with a confirmed release date is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in which the galactic misfits may be in for their biggest and most emotional solo adventure to date.
Rumors have pointed to filming for this threequel beginning before 2021 comes to an end, a timeline that still seems to track with director James Gunn's recent tease for storyboard work happening behind the scenes.
While story details are being kept under wraps for the time being, fans are already looking forward to seeing what the Guardians will get themselves into after their time in Thor: Love and Thunder and the Guardians' Disney+ holiday special. There is also a clear special interest in each team member's survival chances, with Gunn having teased a major death on the way in this threequel.
On the lighter side of the story, the team will have had plenty of opportunities to grow and adapt since they left Tony Stark's funeral on Earth in Avengers: Endgame. In one of his daily rounds on Twitter, Gunn teased one specific evolution that fans will have their eyes on during this movie.
Gunn Teases Groot's Growth in Guardians 3
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn took to Twitter to respond to fans asking about Groot's story in the MCU threequel.
Twitter user @cobbvanity asked if the movie will show a mature version of Groot, to which Gunn simply reminded them "Well years have passed."
User @zenromanov continued the conversation by asking when exactly Vol. 3 will take place in the MCU timeline. Gunn kept his response to that question short and simple by answering "Now."
A Guardian Growing to New Heights?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has no shortage of important character arcs to tackle in the team's likely final solo MCU movie. One example includes the sister duo of Gamora and Nebula rediscovering their relationship after a bout of time travel and Thanos' death in a plot that reportedly had multiple actors in tears.
Having gone through major changes in nearly every MCU appearance to date, it only makes sense that fans will see a new take on Vin Diesel's Groot for likely his eighth Marvel appearance by that time.
After Prime Groot showed a combination of sheer force and childlike wonder in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 featured the character as a baby before Teen Groot let out his angst in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. With some time having passed between that adventure and his next appearance in 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder, it seems inevitable that he will have another growth spurt.
In 2020, Diesel teased the concept of Alpha Groot coming into play for Guardians 3, a completely new version of the hero who sacrificed himself in the 2014 origin story.
It seems likely that this new take will be something similar to Prime Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy, if not one only slightly younger for this new outing. Whatever that answer turns out to be, Gunn makes it clear that the humanoid plant will see some major adjustments when he makes his glorious return.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to release in theaters on May 5, 2023.
