"Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol. 1, 2 & 3) director James Gunn has planted quite an interesting character in the form of the flora alien Groot, as he now reveals that the adult Groot in the first film was actually the father of the adorable baby Groot in the second movie.
This means it is now official, Groot is an asexual plant alien, capable of reproduction upon death. Sadly this also means that the real adult Groot voiced by Vin Diesel did die during the climactic battle of the first movie where his noble sacrifice led to the survival of the Guardians. He was eventually replaced by a cuter baby Groot in the second movie, but now there would be an empty void in every fans' heart where adult Groot used to reside, knowing that he actually died.
It can be recalled that Groot's best friend Rocket (Bradley Cooper) was only able to grow another Groot after nurturing a twig he recovered from adult Groot's shattered kindling remains that were what became of him after shielding his friends from an explosive crash. Gunn explained that this wasn't adult Groot using his regenerative powers, but his son Baby Groot.
First Groot is dead. Baby Groot is his son.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) February 27, 2018 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Gunn went on to add that baby Groot being different than adult Groot in terms of personality is quite a blatant indication that the two are not the same person. In a 2017 Facebook post, Gunn claimed that "I do think it's more obvious in Vol. 2, as Baby Groot has a different personality than Groot, none of his memories, and is much, much dumber."
The internet, on the other hand, finds this a hard pill to swallow, mostly because they thought all along that Groot was an immortal being capable of regenerating from a twig. Gunn did admit that he knows how people reacted to the truth about Groot, though seems a lot more callous about it.
Still, the good news is that baby Groot is now growing up and will actually be a teenager in the upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War." This means fans may get to see another adult Groot again in the third movie, which has yet to have an official release date.
