Guardians Of The Galaxy’s James Gunn Reacts To Marvel Video Claiming To Know What Groot Is Saying

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Ever since the character's first appearance (and sacrifice) in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Groot has been a fan favorite. This love comes despite the fact that the character only ever says three words. All we ever hear are the words "I am Groot" but we know that Vin Diesel reads those lines, he's saying a great deal more than that. Recently a video went viral claiming to translate some of Groot's dialogue from Avengers: Infinity War, and now one of the two men who would know, writer/director James Gunn, has weighed in on the clip's accuracy.

James Gunn has spoken previously about the fact that when he writes the scripts for the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, he does write Groot's full dialogue, aka the words that he is trying to convey even if all we ever hear is "I am Groot." He even goes so far to dance as the character when needed. So Gunn knows exactly what Groot is saying in these scenes, and while it appears the video may not have gotten it all exactly right, it's all very much in the ballpark. Check out the video and the director's response below.

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It's not necessarily that difficult to get a general idea of what Groot is trying to say most of the time. Like Chewbacca's roars in the Star Wars movies, which are never translated, we get the gist of what he's saying by the responses from other characters. And the same can be said for Marvel's Groot. Vin Diesel also knows exactly what is he's trying to say, and so every line reading of "I am Groot" is spoken with that knowledge. Diesel seemingly tries to give every line a proper reading so that the meaning is still understood by the audience.

Knowing the exact language Groot is using is close to impossible but most people will be able to translate the meaning if the not the words. The one specific exception in this video is Groot's final word before being taken by the Snap, because, as Gunn says, he's revealed that detail before.

Marvel fans can re-watch Groot's time in the MCU on Disney+ You can use this link to sign up for the streaming service.

The other thing that we do know about Groot's language, is that it's incredibly filthy. In the video it's suggested that Groot calls Star-Lord a "bitch" and while James Gunn says he doesn't specifically remember exactly what Groot said to him in the script, based on what Gunn has said previously, it seems quite clear that Groot's language was much stronger.

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Fans of Groot will get a lot more over the next year or so. He's expected to return, however briefly in Thor: Love and Thunder before coming back for the long delayed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and even a Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. All that is sure to be full of fun, and more than a few F-bombs. Even if we never know exactly what Groot says, he's still an incredibly understandable character.

Dirk Libbey
Content Producer/Theme Park Beat

CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis.  Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.