Fan-Favorite ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Moment Inspired By ‘Frankenstein’

Prior to their 2014 live-action debut, the characters that starred in Guardians of the Galaxy were relatively unknown at the time. But as soon as moviegoers caught a glimpse of the sentient tree called Groot, he won over the hearts of many.

Thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn, we now know the inspiration behind one of the movie’s scenes that cemented Groot as a fan-favorite character.

According to Gunn, the scene where Groot stops to grow a young girl a flower on his hand was inspired by James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931).

“The inspiration for Groot giving the little girl the flower in GotG Vol 1, only without Groot murdering her afterwards,” Gunn said as he retweeted a still frame from Frankenstein.

“These James Whale movies are so magical and I hope kids still watch them.”

If you don’t recall, the flower scene came as the Guardians landed on Knowhere — the decapitated head of an ancient Celestial — in Guardians of the Galaxy. Groot’s pal Rocket told the group to be on high alert as the territory was notorious for their lack of a legal code.

As the group is walking to a Knowherian watering hole, Rocket warns them to watch their wallets as a group of kids run by, thinking they’re up to no good. Groot — with a heart of gold — stops to grow a flower out of his hand to give one of the younglings.

The scene served as a major point in the character development for a character who can only say three words. That is, of course, until Groot sacrificed himself at the end of the movie to save the rest of the team.

The Frankenstein scene in question involved Frankenstein’s monster coming across the young daughter of a local farmer. Unphased by the creature’s hideous appearance, the girl quickly made friends with the monster and the two threw flowers into a nearby lake to watch them float.

After appearing in their first two team movies, the Guardians most recently showed up in Avengers: Infinity War. The group is slated to return in next year’s untitled Avengers 4 followup before the team rounds out their trilogy with Guardians of the Galaxy 3, presumably in 2020.

“I hope you guys have seen [Avengers: Infinity War],” Gunn told fans in a live Q&A shortly after the release of Infinity War. “I hope you enjoyed it. I hope that you’re excited to see what comes next a year from now if you’ve seen the movie, with Avengers 4, and then two years from today or around this time, when we’ll have Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3.”

What’d you think of Groot’s flower scene in Guardians of the Galaxy? Was it the part that sold you on Groot? Let us know in the comments below!

Marvel Studios’ Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War are in theaters now. It will be followed by Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.