Everyone knows Marvel's Groot is a sentient alien tree – except one Puerto Rican grandmother, who recognizes he’s actually Puerto Rican.
Since he made his movie debut in the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy film, the alien superhero Groot has become a fan favorite among comic and movie lovers. A sentient tree, Groot is known by his popular catch-phrase “I am Groot!” and his good-hearted nature. For many, Groot is the Guardians’ most bizarre member (which is saying something), but one Marvel Comic indicates he may also have more… earthy roots.
In the comic book Guardians of Infinity, Groot finds himself on Earth traveling New York with the Fantastic Four’s Thing. As many New Yorkers catch sight of the odd duo, one Puerto Rican grandmother suddenly tells her grandson that the being everyone think is an alien tree-man is actually… Puerto Rican!
The story occurred in Guardians of Infinity #3 at a time when the Thing was actually a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Wanting a trip back to his old hometown, Thing takes Groot on a little side-trip to Earth and quickly introduces Groot to the beauty of New York. Groot proves a hit with the locals, especially a bunch of kids who start climbing and hanging on him like a favorite tree. Their appearance also attracts some unwelcome attention from the supervillain Plantman, however, who sends one of his giant plants to attack the bus the Thing and Groot were riding on. The media reports the fight, and the broadcast is seen by a Puerto Rican restaurant owner, Abuela Estela, who tells her grandson that Groot is actually the Ceiba, a tree holding the spirits of Puerto Rico’s Taino ancestors who died when Puerto Rico was colonized.
According to the abuela, she can sense the spirits of the Taino in Groot, feeling he is very much kin to her people. Her young grandson disagrees, stating that Groot is an alien from outer space, but the abuela is adamant about her beliefs, noting that the Taino were a very spiritual people in tune with nature, much like Groot himself. Her faith is put to the test when Plantman uses his powers to gain control of Groot and make him attack the neighborhood as his “golem.” Groot runs amok and actually knocks the Thing all the way to a Jewish market where Ben was going to pick up some knishes anyway.
Realizing that the evil Plantman put a spell on Groot, the Abuela Estela runs after Groot and tries to reason with him – telling him that although Groot has traveled the galaxies, she knows the spirits of her ancestors live beyond the Earth and are in him. Plantman orders Groot to strike the woman down, but her words get through to Groot and he shakes off the villain’s control, letting Abuela Estela know that, “Yo Soy, Groot!”
It’s a sweet scene – and one that intentionally gives Groot Puerto Rican lineage thanks to the story’s writer Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, who wanted to give Groot Taino heritage just as other Marvel characters like Thor or Hercules draw their comic book histories from Norse and Greek mythology. Even the Thing, who has since been established as Jewish, often showcases his heritage in the comics (Miranda-Rodriguez’s story shows him shopping for Jewish knishes and offers a reference to the Jewish golem, a clay creature intended to guard the Jewish people that the Thing himself resembles).
To ensure Groot’s Puerto Rican heritage wouldn’t just be an exercise in mere tokenism, Miranda-Rodriguez did extensive research for this story, studying the Ceiba tree that Abuela Estela references and learning what it meant to Puerto Ricans and other Latino cultures. He also contacted Puerto Rican cultural historians to learn about Taino masks (vejigantes), which are displayed in Abuela Estela’s restaurant.
Although Groot may seem like a strange character to represent Latino and Puerto Rican culture, viewing him as a Ceiba tree containing the spirits of the Taino people is a completely legitimate way to offer Groot a link to Puerto Rico, regardless of his outer space origins. More importantly, the story allows Miranda-Rodriguez to spotlight Abuela Estela – who turns out to be the tale’s real hero – and highlight the importance of abuela grandmothers in Latino families as they frequently function as peacekeepers, much like Abuela Estela, who reaches Groot’s goodhearted nature by reminding him of his Puerto Rican roots.
