Guardians of the Galaxy: James Gunn reveals how Groot and Rocket met

With the Guardians of the Galaxy saga drawing to a close this year, James Gunn has been discussing how it all began, giving new insight into how Groot and Rocket came to be friends.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ended the GOTG trilogy with an emotionally-charged bang. You can read our review of the movie here, and check out the potential future of the franchise here.

But while posting on new social media platform Threads, writer-director James Gunn has been writing about the Guardians of the Galaxy’s past. And more specifically how Groot and Rocket came to be friends.

The post was inspired by a question about Tibius Lark, a mysterious character who is name-checked in the first movie but then never mentioned again.

Guardians of the Galaxy: James Gunn reveals how Groot and Rocket met

In response to the question, James Gunn explained that Tibius Lark was supposed to appear in a short film alongside Rocket and Groot. Here’s what he had to say on Threads:

“I wrote a short film explaining the origin of how Rocket & Groot met. It was even storyboarded & location scouted & we did test footage for it (it was seen at SDCC in the ‘trailer’ we cut together after 12 days of shooting). But I didn’t have time to do it as Vol 1 amped up. In it Tibius Lark, Groot, and Rocket were all imprisoned in a deep well in the ground. Tibius was on the verge of dying. He explained to Rocket he had been caring for Groot for years.

“He was a former zookeeper in a shitty galactic-side zoo [who] explained he had saved Groot, who was on exhibit there, & that Groot was a loyal friend. He asked Rocket to please take care of him, & then he died. As he died Rocket looked down in the dark cell & noticed he was a robot, the lower body of his body smashed open and mechanical.

“The guards above ground heard something rumbling & they turned & saw Rocket & Groot bursting up from the ground, Rocket on Groot’s shoulder, & in Rocket’s hands was a machine gun made from Tibius Lark’s body, & he shot all the guards & they escaped & were together until they met the Guardians. That’s who Tibius Lark was.”

For more Guardians of the Galaxy articles, check out the below links:

Best Easter Eggs | Pete Davidson cameo | Who dies? | Counter-Earth explained | Number of post-credits scenes | Avengers: Infinity War reference | Phyla-Vell explained | Is Yondu in GOTG 3? | Chris Pratt wants to return | Lylla, Teef and Floor explained | Does Rocket die? | Doctor Moreau influence | Adam Warlock, hero or villain? | High Evolutionary explained | Soundtrack details | Description of post-credit scenes | All actors and characters | Runtime explained | Why Rocket is the MVP | Is it streaming? | What is Blurp? | Ending explained | GOTG movies ranked | Will there be a Vol 4?