Guardians of the Galaxy gifted us with a cast of extremely enjoyable characters, like the handsome man with spectacular musical taste, Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), feisty Gamora, as played by Zoe Saldana and wise-cracking raccoon Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper). But the fan fave has gotta be Groot (Vin Diesel), the gigantic walking tree that only has a vocabulary of three words (“I”, “Am” and “Groot”).
Despite his limited dialogue, the big guy is just so loveable – loyal, funny, and badass. He’s kind of like Marvel‘s answer to Chewbacca. You can’t understand him, but you know his heart’s in the right place.
That’s why at the end of the first movie when he sacrificed himself for the other Guardians, it was so heartbreaking – until he seemingly regenerated from a twig.
Crisis averted! All’s well that ends well! That is, until the film’s director James Gunn comes along and RUINS EVERYTHING. Responding to fans on Twitter today, Gunn dropped the bombshell that Baby Groot is another Groot all together.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968576621220331520
HWHAT! Jesus, mate. Maybe give us a little warning before you casually kill off one of the most beloved characters in your movie?
As you can expect, reactions have basically been the Seven Stages of Grieving.
https://twitter.com/glittergeekali/status/968579603374669825
James pls don’t do this
— Falcoholic Matt (@FalcoholicMatt) February 27, 2018
https://twitter.com/gohomeben/status/968579850968629248
Great, now I have to go home and tell my three year old son that Groot is Dead.
— Alex Zalben (@azalben) February 27, 2018
I’ll be over here in the fetal position after all this talk of dead Groots and porgs. pic.twitter.com/vcE2brnPL3
— Brian Truitt (@briantruitt) February 27, 2018
Despite the heartbreak, Gunn has stuck to his, er, guns.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968596464715776000
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968599379455098880
COLD:
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968595334262751232
Coming through with the FACTS.
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968583947792801793
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/968584550149382144
I swear to GOD James Gunn, if you kill off my beloved Star-Lord next and replace him with a Chris Pratt-lookin’ baby, I will be seriously displeased.