I Am Groot Director Kirsten Lepore Discusses James Gunn's Input on Season 2 (Exclusive)

Lepore recalled a conversation between herself and Gunn about how to handle Groot.

By Liam Crowley

James Gunn has sang his Marvel swan song, for now. The new head of DC Studios premiered his final Marvel Studios directorial project this past May in the form of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. That threequel marked the completion of Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and wrapped up his responsibilities within Marvel Studios, as he had also worked as an executive producer on Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and I Am Groot. Those EP duties were essentially done to ensure outside directors handled Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy characters with dialogue and actions that were true to who Gunn created them to be.

Now with his Marvel Cinematic Universe days in the rear view, future projects that include Guardians of the Galaxy characters will be tackled without official input from Gunn.

James Gunn's "Trust and Faith" in I Am Groot Season 2

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(Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Stringer)

The first Guardians of the Galaxy character to get a story in this post-James Gunn Marvel Cinematic Universe is Groot. The infant iteration of the talking tree is back for five more digital shorts in I Am Groot Season 2.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, I Am Groot director Kirsten Lepore noted that while Gunn did not return as an executive producer for Season 2, he had "a lot of trust and faith" in the team to do justice to Groot's story.

"I think he had a lot of trust and faith in us, especially after Season 1. I took it as an approval where I was like, 'Okay, we got our groove, we're doing our thing, James gives us the thumbs up. I think we're good to go for Season 2,'" Lepore said. "His fingerprints and DNA are always in there because he created this character."

Gunn previously worked as an EP on I Am Groot Season 1. During that time, he and Lepore had multiple chats about how to handle the titular character.

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"There was a conversation I had with him at the very beginning of Season 1. We got to have a chat about like who this character is, just to make sure that we were on the same page," Lepore continued. "I wanted to do justice to that character. He gave me a couple tidbits of wisdom and described Groot as like the bad baby. I always kept that in the back of my head as I was writing for Season 1 and 2. Those magical words of inspiration are always trickling down through Season 2 concepts."

I Am Groot Season 2 arrives on Disney+ this Wednesday, September 6th.

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