[WARNING: Infinity War Spoilers Ahead]
James Gunn apologizes for revealing Groot's final words in Avengers: Infinity War's ending, which left many fans heartbroken for the tree teenager.
Why Groot's Last Word Tugs The Heartstrings
To those who do not know yet, the Guardians of the Galaxy director revealed that the character's last "I am Groot" line while reaching out to Rocket translates to "Dad." This only added to the sorrow of seeing a fan-favorite turn to dust in front of his best friend, whom fans now know that Groot also regarded as a father figure.
"I knew my answer to the spoiler question last night was touching and sad, but I really did not expect to wake up to so many tweets of people telling me they're crying," Gunn said in a tweet.
"Sorry for that if you're at work or whatever. But it means a lot to me you love the characters as much as I do."
Fans can only imagine what Rocket have felt when Groot said those words, especially considering that he has now lost his partner twice.
Rocket Raccoon Was The Closest Character To Groot
The original Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie was a long-time partner in crime of Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). After being blasted to pieces, a stem allowed a new Groot to grow, who appeared as a baby in the second installment of the series and a teenager in Infinity War.
Having grown up with the guardians, it makes sense for him to consider the team of mismatched heroes as his family. It makes more sense to consider Rocket as the dad, to whom he was closest before meeting Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and the gang. Some have extrapolated that he refers to everyone in the team as "Dad" or "Mom," but according to Gunn he never said that and it wasn't in the scripts.
What's Next For Groot?
As for the fate of Groot, fans are optimistic that he will return. After all, he is still yet to appear in the third installment of Guardians of the Galaxy slated for release in 2020. This would also presumably mark the appearance of the new character Adam Warlock, who was first teased in a post-credits scene as a creation of Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) in the second movie.
Meanwhile, Avengers: Infinity War is still playing in the theaters, with the Ant-Man and the Wasp hitting the cinemas on July 5, 2018 as the last Marvel movie for this year.
