Baby Groot is all grown up now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and according to a new rumor, Marvel Studios may have found a replacement for the cute character.
Who is Baby Groot’s potential replacement in the MCU?
In a new Q&A session on The Cosmic Circus, insider Alex Perez was asked about Marvel Studios looking to introduce more “obscure” characters into the MCU. Specifically, characters from games like Marvel Rivals were brought.
Perez said he had actually heard that Marvel Studios wanted to use Jeff the Land Shark to replace Baby Groot as “the kid-commercial-friendly character of the MCU.”
Originally introduced into Marvel Comics in 2018, Jeff the Land Shark really took off as a character when he was included in NetEase Games’ hero shooter Marvel Rivals. Like his name implies, Jeff is a shark that has four legs, and is often depicted as a chaotic and playful character.
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In the world of Marvel Comics, Jeff is the pet of Gwen Poole and Kate Bishop, and has also interacted with Deadpool.
As for Groot, it’s unclear what the future holds for the character, who has been through it all in the MCU. In 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the character (voiced by Vin Diesel) sacrifices itself to protect the Guardians, and is rebirthed in the form of a planted twig. That twig grows into a new Groot, who slowly grows up throughout MCU films. In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Groot is depicted as a child, who fans cutely nicknamed “Baby Groot.”
The last fans had seen of Groot, he had grown even larger than his original self had. The character was last seen in a post-credits scene for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, where he joins Rocket Racoon, Kraglin Obfonteri, Cosmo the Spacedog, Adam Warlock, Phyla, and Blurp in a new lineup for the group.
(Source: The Cosmic Circus)