Did Groot Just Drop a Huge Hint on Facebook?

Although Vin Diesel's character never said more than three words in Guardians of the Galaxy, Diesel has decided to open up on Facebook. The voice of Groot posted a picture of his character on Facebook Saturday with the words "Vin and Marvel... you all made it happen! I get the strange feeling that Marvel thinks I'm Inhuman... Haha." This stems from a longer tradition of Vin dropping Marvel hints, such as his announcement that he would play Groot and his hint that he was meeting with Marvel for a yet-to-announced 2017 movie.

For the uninitiated, Vin's use of the word "Inhuman" might seem to be a reference to his anthropomorphic tree character in Guardians, but Marvel fans know that it holds greater significance. Marvel started a series of Inhumans comics in 1975, and the series continued on-and-off until 2010. In the series, the Kree race (a larger group of Ronan's people from Guardians of the Galaxy) creates an outpost on Uranus, captures cro-magnon humans and genetically alters them with Celestial (another type of alien) DNA. This May, Marvel released the new Inhuman series, which picks up the cloak of the Inhuman race once again, with new villains and never-before-seen splinter groups within the Inhuman people. Although this might sound a bit like an over-hyped space drama to non-Marvelites, it could actually be a great move for the Marvel cinematic universe as a whole in the following ways.

It Will Keep Marvel in the Space Age

So far, we've seen a lot of galactic plotlines from the Marvel movies, and many of the most interstellar have saved the franchise. For instance, compare the boring history of Thor: The Dark World to the awe-inspiring alien invasion of The Avengers. Or compare either of the latter Iron Man movies to Guardians of the Galaxy. Which were more fun to watch?

Of course, some of the themes of interspecies confrontation and wars in space would make the Inhumans a great movie cast, but other parts might make their film into a tired Marvel cliche. If they did a film about the origin of the Inhumans, a la the deep-history origins in the Thor movies, it could become a tedious origin story, lacking the action needed for a great superhero flick. Nonetheless, after a great Marvel space-movie, it isn't hard to imagine another beautifully-animated adventure between the stars.

Vin Diesel Could Make a Great Black Bolt

Most of the speculation surrounding Vin's Facebook status has cast him as Black Bolt, one of the most powerful Inhumans. He has many abilities, from old standards like flight and superhuman strength, to crazy powers like a shout that packs the punch of a nuclear weapon and the ability to survive in space (although it seems the Guardians now have the power as well). Since he can level cities with his voice, and was consequently kept captive for his entire childhood, Black Bolt is a hero with a dark side, and his reluctant leadership of the Inhumans is often fraught with Inhuman-human fighting and a nomadic lifestyle.

Since Riddick is one of my guiltiest pleasures, I would love to see Vin take on another twisted hero role. We will see how his Groot voice translates to this primarily silent dark horse.

There Are Opportunities for Crossovers

Of course, it wouldn't be the Marvel cinematic universe if there weren't opportunity for crossover characters. Since the Inhumans regularly relocate their society on Earth and the Moon, they could easily have cameos on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. once they're introduced. But the true crossover potential lies with the Inhumans and the Avengers. Since the next Avengers movie is the Age of Ultron, we know that Ultron will emerge as another big bad villain. Luckily, the Inhumans comics crossed over with the Avengers most when fighting Ultron, who threatens human and Inhuman alike. Crystal, a member of the Inhuman royal family, even joins the Avengers in the comics, while she has a romantic relationship with Quicksilver. Perhaps the movies will bring this partnership back, without the need for romantic ties.