Early ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Concept Art Had Groot Looking Like Frankenstein’s Monster

Once upon a time, the sentient tree we’ve all come to know and love looked like Frankenstein’s monster at one point in the development process. That’s right, Groot — or Tree, if you’re Thor Odison — had a look very reminiscient of the classic folklore character early on in development.

Charlie Wen — Marvel Studios visual development maestro — share concept art of the different version of Groot across his social media platforms earlier in the day.

“FrankenGroot,” as Wen calls the art, was quickly passed over by the powers that be. While the design isn’t incredibly far off from the end result, there are enough differences to make it noticeable. In the newly-released concept art, Groot’s head is nearly identical to that of the monster and his body is a lot more monstrous and uneven compared to the human-like torso that debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).

Either way — Groot’s adult form lasted only through the events of the first movie before he ended up sacrificing himself. After he showed up as Baby Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 and Teen Groot in Avengers: Infinity War, it has yet to be revealed what version of the character we’ll end up getting in Avengers: Endgame.

It should be noted that Wen’s concept art does somewhat resemble Groot’s original look in his first appearance in Tales to Astonish #13 when he was a planet-crushing villain.

And unless something catastrophic happens within the next few years, the character should be a part of the finale for the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy whenever Marvel Studios decides to move forward with that.

What do you think of Wen’s “FrankenGroot” concept art? Do you like it better than the version we got in the movie? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or join the conversation online by mentioning me (@AdamBarnhardt) on Twitter to talk all things MCU — especially Groot.

Groot will next appear in Avengers: Endgame, which debuts on April 26th. Other movies on the Marvel Studios release slate this year include Captain Marvel on March 8th and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th.