Vin Diesel is in the news again for comparing himself to greatness. This time, he apparently wants everyone to know that Groot is one of the most important characters Disney owns. Not the famous mouse the company was built on, but Marvel’s talking tree, who is only able to utter three words: “I am Groot!”
In a recent social media post, Diesel listed his upcoming projects, including a new Riddick film, the long-awaited sequel to 2015’s The Last Witch Hunter (alongside Sir Michael Caine) and then The Abor King, a rumored and unconfirmed Marvel Studios project, that’s meant to be a Guardians of the Galaxy spin-off centered around Groot and his home planet, Planet X.
“The Arbor King. Some say Groot is Disney’s most valuable asset,” Diesel wrote in the post, which means the spin-off is still in active development, although it hasn’t been officially announced by Marvel Studios yet.
Diesel has been teasing the project for some time now. In March 2025, he wrote that “Disney wants their Planet X,” describing it as Marvel’s most anticipated movie. Forget Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Arbor King is where it’s at.
The argument could be made that, technically, Groot has a lot more commercial reach than most characters in the MCU. The character works across age groups, all languages, and, sure, his silhouette is recognisable enough to carry theme park merchandise, animated shorts, and a streaming series without much explanation. That’s true. But whether that is enough to place him ahead of Star Wars or the entire Pixar catalogue in terms of value is a stretch.
But, then again, Vin Diesel has never been in the business of underselling anything he is attached to, right?
I mean, at the Fast X premiere in 2023, he also compared Fast & Furious to The Lord of the Rings. Asked by Variety how sustaining the franchise had become harder over the years, he bypassed the obvious answers and went straight to mythology. “There’s a reason why Tolkien stopped writing after a while. It’s so hard to continue mythologies. Nobody thinks about it in that context, but it’s real.” When the reporter suggested Fast & Furious might be the Lord of the Rings of action movies, Diesel completely agreed. “From your mouth to God’s ears. It’s so true.” He then put on a bad English accent and said, “I should’ve stopped after The Hobbit.”
One thing you’ve got to give Diesel credit for is marketing his films. He’s been in the business since 2009, and he’s had plenty of hit films. They’re not The Lord of the Rings, sure. But they’re still big blockbusters.
Fast Forever, the eleventh and final film in the franchise (supposedly), is set for March 2028. The Arbor King has no release date yet.
Say, remember in the first movie, where the Hobbits are stealing cars and by the end, they’re flying on eagles? We don’t either.
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