Adorable Baby Groot Concept Art For Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

Marvel Studios’ conceptual artist Josh Herman previously worked on 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, helping to develop the look seven-foot talking humanoid tree creature, so naturally, he was tasked with coming up designs for the adorable, pint-sized version of Groot featured in the sequel.

Helping to make him appear as the child that he is, Herman illustrated the little fella holding a baby bottle and crying, draggin a raccoon stuffed animal, and pulling string out of a cassette tape.

“Baby Groot was super fun to work on!” Herman exclaimed. “When we were told that he was going to be a toddler, I wanted to try doing some concepts with props in them to help in him looking more like child. It was a really fun project and very happy to show these.”

View Herman’s Baby Groot artwork in our slideshow!

If you’d like to see more of Herman’s concept art, click on the following links to view his Avengers: Age of Ultron designs for Tony Stark’s Iron Legion and Hulkbuster armor, as well as character designs for the wiser, older Groot seen in the first film.

MORE: New Teenage Groot Funko POP Revealed / Vin Diesel Reveals The Inspiration Behind Baby Groot’s Voice / How Big Will Groot Be In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3? / Chris Pratt Details Star-Lord & Groot’s Father-Son Relationship In Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

Set to the backdrop of ‘Awesome Mixtape #2,’ Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mysteries of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel cinematic universe continues to expand.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn (Slither). The film marks the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (Jurassic World) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (Spectre) as Drax; Vin Diesel (Furious 7) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (Jumper) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (The Big Short) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (Gilmore Girls) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (The Knick, The Drop) and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight, The Thing).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.

Baby Groot With Stuffed Animal

We almost didn’t get Baby Groot in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. “I originally intended for Baby Groot to get bigger and be an adult Groot, but it just didn’t work,” director James Gunn told Total Film. “So having Baby Groot stay Baby Groot — who’s also an incredibly popular character from his three seconds on screen at the end of the first movies — it allowed me to create a character who had his own private world within the Guardians’ worlds.”

Baby Groot With Baby Bottle

Having Groot be a baby made the group’s dynamic much more interesting. “It allowed for a more interesting relationship withing the group,” Gunn shared with TF. “Drax is just perturbed by him. Quill ignores him. Gamora’s actually pretty motherly towards him. She’s the only one that’s motherly towards him. Rocket is protective but constantly irritated and is a terrible father.”

Baby Groot With Cassette Tape

Recognizing early on that he would steal every scene, the cast tried to persuade the director/screenwriter to get them more screen-time with Baby Groot. “Baby Groot is like having your vitamins every days,” Michael Rooker explained to TF. “He is by far the scene-stealer of the movie. Every on Guardians was trying to convince James Gunn, ‘Hey! Hey! Dude! Put me in a with Baby Groot.’”