Vin Diesel had much more to say besides “I am Groot” on his Instagram Tuesday. The star of The Fast and the Furious franchise took to the social media platform to tease a slew of upcoming projects with one in particular catching our eye: a hypothetical Groot movie from Marvel Studios.
“Disney wants their Planet X!” Diesel wrote. “Which some say is Marvel’s most anticipated movie, haha. The film where Groot returns to his home planet.” When you consider how secretive Marvel is about everything, and that the Guardians of the Galaxy have taken a break post-Vol. 3, that’s a bold statement. Not something to be announced in passing on Instagram. So, is this something that really could happen? If so, would it fit into the current Multiverse Saga? io9 reached out to Marvel about Diesel’s post but it did not provide a comment. So, with no official word on this, let’s dig a little deeper.
The obvious first thought is Groot did already get his own Marvel project. I Am Groot is on Disney+ and is, frankly, delightful. It’s not quite a crucial chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe but it speaks to something Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has acknowledged in the past: Groot is probably the most popular character to come out of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
So a Groot-centric story that takes the character back to his home planet doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility. Especially if that’s just the jumping-off point for a larger Guardians adventure. We know that Chris Pratt’s Star Lord will return at some point. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 told us that. And would he really return and not meet up with his old buddies Rocket, Groot, and everyone else? Maybe he comes back to help Groot. We’d watch that movie.
But is it real? Maybe the biggest note here is that Diesel loves to stir up shit. He loves to make news and tease things on his social media, so an out-of-the-blue Planet X Groot movie could be anything from a) something he really wants to do but has never been brought up, b) a project tangentially mentioned in passing at a meeting, or c) an actual idea someone at Marvel is developing. We don’t know for sure but we’re leaning toward the first one. More than anything else, this throwaway comment seems like Diesel is just putting this out into the world to see what happens.
Beyond the Groot project, Diesel talked about Fast X2, Rock Em Sock Em Robots, Riddick, xXx, even The Last Witch Hunter. He seems to be a busy guy. But how much of his busy schedule will take him to Marvel Studios? Time will tell.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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