It has been officially confirmed that Vin Diesel will playing Groot in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel.

The Fast & Furious star will be providing the voice to the tree-like cosmic hero. A casting officially confirmed the news from Marvel Studios late Saturday and Marvel released a press release, Metro added.

Guardians is based on the comic-book superhero group and will be directed by James Gunn. The film is set to be released nationwide on August 1st, USA Today reported.

Guardians will be the first movie from Marvel that does not have a strong fan following. Guardians is also not a part of the highly successful Avengers.

Once the news broke, director Gunn took to his Instagram account to comment.

Diesel has been rumored to be playing the role since this summer and was in talks with Marvel. He even teased to his role in an August post to his Facebook page.

Guardians features a star studded cast, including Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana.

image: Wikimedia Commons