I Can’t Believe Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Most Popular Character Surprised Even Its Director

I can’t believe the Guardians of the Galaxy character that director James Gunn considers “by far the most popular” in the movie surprised even him with their immense popularity. Though several MCU movies had proven the franchise’s potential, the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie was still arguably something of a risk for the Marvel film world. The Guardians of the Galaxy were a team that many MCU moviegoers would have no idea of prior to the film’s release, and the story itself being set far from Earth meant it naturally couldn’t tie as much into the stories of the MCU’s current heroes.

However, the reception of both the initial Guardians of the Galaxy and its two sequels shows that this risk was absolutely worth it, especially since it brought a number of the most popular characters in the MCU timeline into the universe at the same time. With this in mind, it’s interesting to note that the Guardians of the Galaxy character who became ostensibly its most popular was a figure whose rise surprised even Gunn himself.

All Of The Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Main Team Became Pretty Popular Immediately After The First Movie

The Guardians of the Galaxy may not have been the most well-known Marvel superhero team before they first arrived on-screen with their initial 2014 MCU movie, but that certainly didn’t stop them from being successful in their film debut. James Gunn’s sci-fi action comedy immediately drew a positive reception for its fresh-feeling take on the superhero genre, which also brought in a considerable $770 million in terms of its worldwide box office (via The Numbers)

This positive reception to the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie remains to this day, with the film currently having a 92% score for both its critic and audience Rotten Tomatoes reviews, and an eight out of ten rating on IMDB. A core positive element of the movie cited by many reviews is the way the film establishes its core characters and encourages the viewer to empathize with and root for them, helping the Guardians crew rise in MCU popularity from the get-go, and helping ensure that the trilogy that unfolded in the almost decade afterward had consistently successful installments.

With the Guardians of The Galaxy offering a range of unique and distinct characters for fans to emotionally attach to, including the likes of a snarky talking raccoon in Rocket and the troubled but ultimately heroic daughter of Thanos in Gamora, it’s easy to see how there may have been expectations about who the audience would bond to most – especially since Star-Lord is ostensibly the central character of the film. However, many may not have expected the figure that became a standout favorite, as indeed the movie’s own director has said he didn’t beforehand.

Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Director Has Said Himself That He Didn’t Expect “The Most Popular Character” In The Movie To Be As Such

Speaking at a 2025 DC Studios press event as the co-CEO of the DC Universe, James Gunn also delved into his past with the MCU and the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, explaining how aspects of its success were not anticipated before the reaction to the releases were seen. While exploring this matter, Gunn talked about Groot’s story and how the character’s level of popularity had not been predicted before the film actually had its cinematic debut, commenting that:

In Guardians of the Galaxy, did we know that Groot was going to be by far the most popular character when the first movie came out? No way. It was surprising. Not only that, in all of the test screenings and everything, he wasn’t the most popular character because he was, like, a f**king grey stick. All of a sudden, the movie comes out, he’s the most popular character – and you don’t want to leave that alone. He becomes – or his son – a more instrumental character in the other movies. You don’t want to let go of the lightning when it strikes.

Looking at Guardians of the Galaxy with Gunn’s comments in mind, it’s easy to see how this could have felt the case prior to the film’s release. While Groot is depicted in an extremely endearing way, the fact audiences aren’t able to understand for themselves what Groot is saying exactly could have been seen to limit their capacity to connect with him before the film hit cinemas, and with so many other members of the team having a more central role throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy‘s story, it would have been possible for Groot’s own to fall to the wayside.

James Gunn also noted his surprise at Nebula’s rise in popularity throughout the Guardians series after being arguably one of the least popular characters in the first Guardians Of The Galaxy.

However, this is very much not what came to pᴀss, as the film’s actual release saw Groot become one of the MCU’s most beloved characters – even leading to his eventual own solo spinoff show I Am Groot in 2022, which underlined just how popular the character had become. While it’s understandable that this level of popularity and success for the unusual character wasn’t predicted from the beginning, it is also entirely understandable that audiences connected to Groot so strongly for more than one reason.

Why Groot’s Popularity In The MCU Makes Perfect Sense

While the practical limitations on things like Groot’s dialogue may have looked like they could limit the appeal of the character before Guardians of the Galaxy hit screens, it seems that what happened was effectively the opposite of this. Not only does Groot only appearing to say one line of dialogue – that of “I am Groot” – immediately make the character stand out and be interesting, it also means more effort has to be put into communicating Groot’s story without relying on his dialogue to do so, which the movie is able to do to great and unique success.

Combine this with Groot’s friendship with Rocket being one of the first bonds between the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Groot nobly sacrificing himself for his new friends at the end of the film, it seems hard to not come out of the movie with a soft spot for the kindly tree enтιтy. As such, all these faucets of Groot’s character and story seem to make him a figure who has an almost universal appeal for the MCU audience, whether they like the comedy Groot is inherently tied to, or the more emotional story behind it.

Groot is also a naturally exciting character because he’s so different to the conventional human superheroes the MCU most traditionally has in its stories, both reminding audiences of the larger-than-life potential of the MCU, and providing a hero that feels truly different since there’s no one else really like him in the franchise. As such, while the level of popularity the Guardians of the Galaxy hero immediately earned may have been surprising to many – including its own director and no doubt others involved in the project – it’s also a success story that makes a lot of sense.