Vin Diesel 'excited' to return as Groot in 'Guardians 2'

LOS ANGELES, April 13 (UPI) -- Vin Diesel is excited to return as Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

The 47-year-old actor said as much in an interview at the 2015 MTV Movie Awards on Sunday. Vin Diesel first voiced the Marvel superhero in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and will reprise the character for the sequel.

"I'm hearing really cool things about what we can expect from Groot," he shared. "[Director] James Gunn is so excited. And every time I talk to James Gunn, you hear the excitement in his voice and that makes me excited."

"I'm really excited about having an opportunity to work with the whole Guardians of the Galaxy family," he added. "And Marvel has been really cool. And everything's just really cool."

Groot won over fans by selflessly sacrificing himself to save the guardians in the first movie. The tree-like character was able to regenerate from a twig, and made his reappearance as baby Groot at the end of the film.

Guardians of the Galaxy earned over $774 million at the box office, and co-starred Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer and Bradley Cooper as Rocket. Guardians 2 opens in theaters May 5, 2017.

Diesel last appeared with late actor Paul Walker in Furious 7. The actor sang "See You Again" for his co-star and friend at the awards ceremony, and a "ghost" photo of the pair has gone viral following the movie's release April 3.