Baby Groot is cute and the potential windfall from plush toys and action figures is there. But director James Gunn shared the news about the character being crucial in the "Guardians of the Galaxy 2."

Mainstream news outlets have noted the marketing potential of baby Groot as they speculated that it was added there as a virtual cash cow for Marvel.

In a Facebook post, James Gunn explained that the original plan was for a time jump in the sequel, which means baby Groot would have been all grown up. But he said the group needs to grow up together and that process should be included in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2."

 "And, secondly, for whatever reason, Groot just wasn't working," he wrote. "It was then I came upon the idea of having Vol. 2 take place very shortly after the first film and for Groot to still be Baby Groot, with quite a lot to learn."

When he shared the news to everybody, everything just came into place. The script for "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" got tighter and ultimately, he "felt like we were creating something very special."

"I'm not an idiot," he added. "I knew if Baby Groot worked, the world would want Baby Groot toys and figures and plushies. But that certainly didn't seem like a certainty when I was alone in my office conceiving of a story, and it most definitely was not the driving force of the decision."

That certainly would be good news to Marvel Studios, especially since baby Groot in "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" is very adorable and it's almost certain that plushies and action figures are sure to be close behind.