The first official poster has been released for I Am Groot. In the poster, Groot can be seen taking it easy while an included premiere date states that the series will arrive on Disney+ on Aug. 10, 2022. This comes just one week ahead of the release of another Marvel series, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Created by Ryan Little, I Am Groot is a series of animated shorts featuring Baby Groot on his adventures growing up in the galaxy, encountering new and unusual characters along the way. Vin Diesel will return as the voice of Groot after voicing the character in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. James Gunn serves as an executive producer of the series with Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and Kirsten Lepore.
It's not entirely clear which other characters will end up appearing in the series, though storyboard artwork has suggested that at least one fellow Guardian will be featured. Drax the Destroyer was featured in the storyboards, and if that happens, it would mark his second animated appearance after Drax showed up in What If...?. Dave Bautista did not provide the voice of Drax in that series with Fred Tatasciore taking over the role as the animated Drax.
I Am Groot Goes Back to Groot's Origins
Via ComicBook.com, Vin Diesel has previously teased I Am Groot. He suggested that the series would delve into his "return to Planet X," revealing more about the character's history than was ever explored in the Guardians of the Galaxy films. He also explained how he never thought he'd have such a long journey with this character when he originally agreed to provide the voice of Groot, though he has now come to realize that it has been a "wonderful thing."
"The Groot character... There's a few characters like Iron Giant and Groot that I knew would be gifts for my kids in a way but the irony is the Groot character is a gift from my kids because I played that character, in part, because when Marvel sent over a book of Marvel characters, my three-year-old son at the time pointed at the picture of the tree," Vin Diesel explained. "I never would have thought that that would be a character I would play. I had nightmares of playing the tree at the school play when I was 10 years old. Playing Groot is a wonderful thing. Taika is a friend of mine and he's such a talented director, as is James Gunn. Just talented directors, I take my hat off to them."
I Am Groot will start streaming on Disney+ on Aug. 10, 2022. Groot can also be seen in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, due to arrive later this year, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 on May 5, 2023. That third film is planned to be the final installment of the Guardians of the Galaxy series so the future of Groot after 2023 is unclear.