Tween Groot, Leaner Baby Groot Concept Art For Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

Going into its third weekend, Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is poised to add another $30M to its domestic total but drop into second place. It is expected to be dethroned by Ridley Scott’sPrometheus sequel/Alien prequel, Alien: Covenant, which should debut in the $35M-$40M range. Of course, Alien: Covenant could easily underperform, allowing Vol. 2 to eek out another box office win.

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No matter what spot Vol. 2 eventually nabs, its first two frames at the global box office already ensured that its another home run for Marvel. Now let’s take a look at some amazing concept art that conceptual artist Anthony Francisco did for Baby Groot and Tween Groot.

“James Gunn has done it again! One of the funnest films I have worked on,” wrote Francisco. “If you haven’t seen the film yet please check it out. I feel so lucky and very grateful to be part of an amazing group of designers at Marvel Studios Visual Development. It’s been four and a half years when I first started on the first Guardians of the Galaxy (click here).

“One of my favorite contributions to the MCU is the development of Baby Groot,” he continued. “I pretty much watched him grow, I did the concept design from potted Groot to Baby Groot, and now Teen Groot!

“[Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2] was all about family and this character is so close to my heart because my kids were the inspiration that helped me in finding the design. And my son is much like baby groot, he is a handful but always cute and adorable.”

NEXT: Director James Gunn Says That’s Not Teen Groot

Check out Francisco’s concept art in our slideshow below!

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 now playing!

Baby Groot

“Initial designs for [Baby Groot] with a leaner body type,” Francisco explained of the images found below, “but he needed to have the belly that toddlers have, this was a specific element that James wanted and I think it helped the final design a lot.” He added, “It was a challenge to balance the amount of detail on his face to keep him cute but still looking like an alien plant tree thingy.”

Tween Groot

In one of the five post-credits scenes, Peter comes into Groot’s room and is appalled to see that it is a complete mess, with loose vines covering the floor, furniture and walls. He scolds Groot — who tries to ignore Peter by focusing on a video game — and tells the moody tween to clean up his room. Now with the ability to understand Groot’s limited vocabulary, Peter is peeved when the humanoid creature calls him boring, so he criticizes him for wasting so much time playing a mind-numbing game.

“Another minor misconception is that people think that’s Teen Groot at the end of the movie,” Gunn explained during a Facebook Q&A. “And I understand why. It’s actually Adolescent Groot. I would call him ‘Tween Groot.’ Or, we call him ‘Adolescent Groot.’ He’s not quite a teenager yet.”