Baby Groot Steals The Spotlight In First 'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2' Photo

The last time we checked up on "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" Chris Pratt required a thesaurus to sing the praises of the follow-up to Marvel 's 2014 surprise hit. 

Now, we have the first official photograph from the sequel courtesy of director James Gunn, who's been the first line of spoilers defense as fandemonium surrounding the project has escalated over the last couple months. 

On Wednesday morning, Gunn treated fans to a photo of your favorite Guardians -- Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket and last but not least Groot -- back in action. 

Take a look at the hero shot below: 

Look at baby Groot! He's so little that he has to hold onto Drax's ear for stability #teamwork. 

Fans' favorite person right now, Gunn, also revealed some choice casting details about the sequel: Kurt Russell, will be joining "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" in a currently undisclosed role.

He made sure to eliminate the possibility that Russell might play Peter Quill's much discussed father *spoiler alert* Emperor J'son . Doth the director protest too much? 

He was a little more loose-lipped about the casting of Pom Klementieff, who will play Mantis , a member of the earth's mightiest heroes, the Avengers, and a frequent partner of the Guardians. 

TFW your favorite film franchise is back in production.

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