‘I Am Groot’ Trailer: Beloved ‘Guardians’ Sidekick Branches Out in Animated Spinoff Series for Disney+

As Marvel Studios forges ahead with phase four of its interconnected series of films and TV, Disney+ is reaping the benefits. This year alone, the platform has already seen the release of “Moon Knight” and “Ms. Marvel,” with “She-Hulk” and others still on the way. But even with so many stories to juggle, Marvel president Kevin Feige hasn’t forgotten about one of the MCU’s most beloved characters.

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I Am Groot” is an upcoming animated short series that will follow everyone’s favorite deciduous humanoid. The series will consist of five shorts tracking Baby Groot as he grows up in the universe and his various misadventures along the way. Vin Diesel will reportedly reprise his voice acting role for all the episodes. 

The project was first announced in December 2020 along with a “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” to be written and directed by James Gunn, who helmed the first two films. Gunn serves as an executive producer on “I Am Groot” and said the material wouldn’t necessarily relate to the movies. The series will be directed by Kirsten Lepore, who made a name for herself as a writer, storyboard artist, and director on the critically adored “Adventure Time.” Episodes will be rendered in a photorealistic animation style akin to that used by Pixar Studios

Aside from Feige, Gunn, and Lepore, executive producers include Marvel co-president Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Brad Winderbaum. Writing credit has also been attributed to Ryan Little, who worked as a writer and script coordinator for the Marvel anthology series “What If…?” 

During the Comic-Con panel, Marvel revealed a second batch of five episodes, a season two as it were, are in the works. All five shorts are scheduled to drop on Disney+ on August 10. In the meantime, you can watch the trailer below.