James Gunn has repeatedly said that Baby Groot is not the same Groot fans have come to love in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1." However, it was not until now that fans have finally learned what the former's relation is to the latter who sacrificed his own life to save his fellow Guardians in the first film.
The popular theory is that Baby Groot is a reborn version of the original Groot but that is actually not the case. When a fan pointed out in a Twitter debate that Groot can grow back himself after he is killed, Gunn stepped in to give the life-altering facts that "First Groot is dead" and that "Baby Groot is his son."
As he argued about the new Groot in a follow-up tweet, "He doesn't have adult Groot's memories for one. Adult Groot would know what button to push!"
To be fair, the confusion around the old Groot and the new is not totally unwarranted. As Brit+Co pointed out, he was playing coy about Groot's fate at first, saying he "might" be dead and that the circumstances around the character were "complicated." Plus, the resemblance between father and son is uncanny. Not only do they have a similar name, Vin Diesel also provides the voices for both; hence, the popular assumption that they are the same character.
However, Gunn has set the record straight on multiple occasions since then that the new Groot is an entirely different character. He even spelled the whole thing out in a Facebook post almost half a year ago.
"It's important to say that if you exploded and a little glob of you started growing into a baby, I would not assume that baby was you," the director wrote. "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."
Needless to say, Groot's sacrifice in Vol. 1 was real. He did not come back, though; his spores grew a seed instead, which ultimately became his son.
Groot will return on "Galaxy Guardians of the Vol. 3" which will likely feature him in a much older form but before that, he will join the Avengers' fight against Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" this May 4.
