OK, well, no, technically, it’s not just any tree: It’s Groot, from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and technically he’s more a Tree Man, and also a superhero, and also a guardian of the galaxy. But still! Vin Diesel — the modern paragon of cinema’s “Monosyllabic Grunt First” school of acting — is possibly going to play a character that is basically a walking tree. This is very, very fantastic.
As always, this breaking Vin Diesel news comes to us hot off the unimpeachable source for Vin Diesel info that is Vin Diesel’s Facebook page. Diesel first hinted at some upcoming work with Marvel on his Facebook in June, dropping a cryptic status update: “Marvel has requested a meeting… no idea what for … haha, you probably know better than me …” Then, on Sunday, after noticing Vin had updated his FB with an image of Groot (from the Guardians comic book), Deadline poked around and found that America’s favorite human is now in full-fledged talks with Marvel to join Benicio del Toro, Zoe Saldana, Glenn Close, and the newly swol Chris Pratt in the Guardians movie.
Again: He will be playing Groot, a character that “can absorb wood to gain strength and recover from injuries as well as control trees.” Absorb wood. Control trees. Vin Diesel. You think it can’t get any better? You think wrong! “While hyper-intelligent, the alien seems to only ever say the line ‘I am Groot’ over and over to those who cannot hear his real voice.” I just … can’t … please, stop … killing me … with … beauty.
And now, a world premiere exclusive sneak preview of Vin Diesel as a tree man!