‘I Am Groot’ Features Cameos from Bradley Cooper, James Gunn

After being a team player in a whole bunch of movies, Groot is finally getting a little spotlight of his own in Disney+’s animated series I Am Groot. The five short films follow the smallest Guardian of the Galaxy as he travels the cosmos and gets into all sorts of mischief along the way. If you thought he was wily and irascible in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, just wait until you see what happens when Rocket and the rest aren’t looking.

Even though this is Groot’s show, there are still a few other recognizable characters and some unrecognizable voice actors in the mix. Obviously Vin Diesel is part of the series; he’s been the voice of Groot since his debut and he’s since voiced the character at multiple stages of his life. But Diesel isn’t the only Guardian on the call sheet.

First there’s the obvious cameo: Bradley Cooper reprises his role as the voice of Rocket in the I Am Groot short “Magnum Opus.” That’s not a surprise considering that Rocket and Groot are inseparable best buds, although they have more of a father/son dynamic now. That dynamic is really on display in this episode, which shows Groot going to outlandish lengths to create a family portrait for Rocket.

It should also be pointed out that we see Drax’s outline in the shower when Baby Groot sneaks in to steal his soap, but Dave Bautista is nowhere to be seen.

The other big cameo comes in the I Am Groot short “Groot’s Pursuit.” In it, Groot spends a night chasing down a creepy noise clattering around the Quadrant (which is the name of the Guardians’ other spaceship, the one they commandeered at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). To light his way through the Quadrant’s dark halls, Groot wraps an alien smartwatch around his forehead and starts his hunt.

The smartwatch shorts out and starts cycling through a number of settings and channels. The voice you hear is none other than James Gunn himself, the writer and director of the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise. He’s a man of many voices, apparently!

This isn’t the first time Gunn’s stepped out from behind the camera, either. You know all those scenes of Baby Groot getting down in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2? Those moves all come courtesy of James Gunn.

All five I Am Groot shorts are now streaming on Disney+.