Last year, the Guardian of the Galaxy’s adorable Flora Colossus got his own animated Disney+ series. As well as having his own adventures, Groot was also the inspiration for a buildable version of his infant form. As the second season of I Am Groot arrives on Disney+ it’s the perfect time to take a look at a brand new variant of Groot, one which has been transformed by the sentient alien symbiote Venom. Although this odd take on Groot hasn’t appeared in the MCU, it does come from the Marvel comics, where the character was part of an interdimensional version of the Guardians. Here’s a closer look at Venomised Groot.
Product Details
Set Name: Venomised Groot | Set Number: 76249| Pieces: 282 | Theme: LEGO Marvel
RRP: £46.99/$49.99/52.99€ | Number of Bags: Bags x 5 | Instructions: Paper booklet + Builder App | Stickers: Sheet x 1 | Minifigures: N/A | Insiders QR: Yes
Availability: LEGO Stores, LEGO Online & LEGO retailers
Despite being partly enveloped by Venom, Groot is once again featured in his baby form as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the I Am Groot series. The scale used results in Groot being around the same size as he would be in those. Parts of Groot’s original form are still partly visible but much of his body and head has been taken over by Venom, meaning a lot of black elements are used to show this. This isn’t just a case of swapping one colour element for some black ones, to show the monstrous hold of Venom, there are sharper edges, tentacles and other additions achieved through the use of many different elements compared to the original set.
One of the most obvious differences is the trio of tentacles protruding from Groot’s back. These are very fiddly to buildable, especially attaching the teeth to the 2×2 dome plates and they are easily knocked away from the body due to the connection method used to fix them to Groot. There are several stickers used on the normal half of Groot, these extend some of the black detail and help to show Venom’s creeping hold over Groot. There are also a couple of printed pieces including Groot’s normal eye and the Venom teeth around the month.
The set includes the ability to build it in two different ways. The main build is covered by bags 1 to 4, with the build process covered by the paper instructions included in the box. If you want to build a completely Venomised Groot, you’ll need to introduce elements from bag 5 and follow the digital-only instructions found in the LEGO® Builder App. This results in a completely Venomised version of Groot. You can get away with some sections of the build not having to be completely dismantled such as the feet and tentacles but everything else has slight changes, mostly the colour of elements.
Overall
There is an obvious connection with the I Am Groot set released in 2022. The build and overall style of this new version of Groot are very similar to the non-venomised Groot from 2022. There are a few differences, the set ditches the display plate and the buildable tape. These are replaced with Venom-induced tentacles and the optional ability to build Groot partly taken over by Venom or completely covered by the Alien symbiote. I think I prefer the original version of Groot as it was a better reflection of the character. Yet, I do like how Venom’s visual control of Groot is mixed with Groot’s normal form. If the rumoured 2024 Marvel sets are anything to go by, the LEGO Marvel theme is going big with Venom-based sets next year, meaning this new version of Groot could have some company. I assume the upcoming appearance of the Symbiote menace in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game coming to PlayStation 5 later this year, could partly be the reason why Venom could be inspiring so many sets.
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The LEGO Group provided this set for review purposes. The thoughts within this review are those of BricksFanz.com and do not reflect those of the LEGO Group. Providing the set for free does not guarantee a favourable opinion of the set.
