âI donât even know if Rocket cares that much about dying at this certain point. He is a sad and lonely character.
I think in this movie we get to see that a little more deeply. That heâs a deeply injured, damaged soul who has never known tenderness, heâs never known love, and heâs never known affection. And so when he starts to become friends with the Guardians â as he did in Volume 1 and going into this movie â he becomes a real jerk. He becomes an ass.
Heâs not able to deal with the intimacy or the tenderness of friendship and so he pushes them away in a very harsh way. And that truly is in many ways the heart of this story.â
Sorry in advance for the long post @sailor15galaxy!Â
I thought other people might want to know as well, so I decided to make it a post!
Iâm not entirely sure if you just meant material for MCU Rocket or comic book Rocket Raccoon as well (I believe knowing about Rocket in the comics really deepens your understanding of his character, even if certain things are different between the two), so Iâll split this post into two!
MCU Rocket (Earth-199999):
The Pirate Angel, The Talking Tree, And Captain Rabbit - about $10 on Amazon (maybe this is in AUD not USD tho)
This is a book set during Infinity War, between leaving the Benatar with Thor, and arriving at Nidavellir. Iâm not 100% sure how canon it is, but it appears in the MCU wiki so I believe that means it is pretty canon. Itâs a nice 150-page book detailing about how Teen Groot finds Rocketâs âjournalâ, and it describes many short stories of Rocket and Groot (adult & baby) before and after the Guardians.
It just gives some nice emotional depth to him!Â
Thereâs also his profile on the marvel wikia which is great for info and itâs free! BUT IF YOU HAVENâT SEEN ENDGAME DONâT READ IT. THERE IS SPOILERS!!
Another thing Iâd recommend is reading other peopleâs meta analyses; while theyâre not canon, it really gives a deeper look at his character and there are some really good ones out there. Hereâs a few that are also in my masterpost:
Rocketâs Implants - A bit more info on what was actually done to him.Â
Rocket and Grootâs Less Than Wholesome Dynamic - Long but a really good read!
Touching the Back of Rocketâs Neck - Like the title says, OP speculates that Rocket was grabbed by the scruff of his neck as an experiment and has subsequently developed an attack reflex for people doing the same. :(
Comics Rocket (Earth-616):
Honestly, my be all and end all for free content is the wikia for the comics. Itâs such a great source! But it does have its drawbacks in not being incredibly specific or riveting like the comics.
Other than that Iâd say that reading the first original comics! Itâs actually quite cheap at the moment; for me itâs $2.99 (AUD) for his first appearances (Marvel Preview #7, Incredible Hulk (1968) #27 & Rocket Raccoon (1985) #1-4); itâs his backstory in the comics! (Halfworld, curing the Loonies, & the Toy War). These are quite a different tone to the movies though.
Another comic I really enjoyed was the mini series The Blue River Score by Ewing. Itâs cheap online (genuinely, I pay $38 AUD for comics that are only $6 if you buy an electronic copy through the Marvel store) and it shows some emotional depth to Rocket, plus an ex girlfriend, and shows his soft side (oh man, if he likes someone, platonically or romantic, he would let them do anything to him no matter how much they hurt him, betray him, or ratted him out). Rocket is a pretty big pushover for a gunslinging mercenary âa-holeâ. Anyway thatâs off topic but I have a lot of emotions.
Honestly, any Rocket Raccoon comic series is good to know more about him! But I understand people canât always buy comics so thatâs why finding communities that show scans of the important/interesting things are good!
If anyone else has any suggestions for Rocket learning content, let me know in the replies, reblog adding it (Iâll rb it back onto my blog) or just send me an ask and Iâll add it to the post! Hope this helps!
âA few years ago I became friends with a gemologist, and I saw all these gems that he had lying around, one of which was this big ugly stone that I picked up. âThatâs the worldâs largest ruby youâre holding.â He didnât know what to do with it, so next time I saw him I asked if I could carve it. Itâs right over there. [Points across the room to a glass case.]
I was thinking: Who do you sell the worldâs largest ruby to? Somebody whoâs uber-rich. And people donât get uber-rich unless thereâs something dark attached to it. Itâs always communists in China, or drug dealers in South America, or oil people in Russia. Itâs those kinds of people who are going to want the worldâs largest ruby. And I wanted to fuck with them in some way. So I said: Iâm going to carve it into a turd. But it will look like a custard. Iâm going set it on top of a cone, and it will look like a sweet-treat, but really itâs a turd. Theyâll buy it because itâs the worldâs largest ruby, but only Iâll know that itâs a turd.â - Mark Mothersbaugh
Disclaimer: my theory wouldnât be here today without the planets being pointed out in the Easter egg hunt here
Also, the app butchered my formatting so please open this post in a browser, not the app!Â
So, Iâm not entirely sure how widely accepted this theory is but I believe that 100% High Evolutionary is Rocketâs Creator.
Obviously, in the comics this is different. Rocket, among other animals like a hare and an otter, is taken from earth and made to be human-like to look after mentally insane beings on a planet called Halfworld.
In the MCU, his origin is also listed as Halfworld, and Lylla (his sentient otter soulmate) is mentioned in the prison lineup screenshot so one might assume that he has the same origins as the comics.
But James Gunn says otherwise.
âAs you know, the MCU is one way of processing these characters. [Universe] 616 is a different one. We are going to learn more about where Rocket comes from in the coming sagas. Itâs going to be a little different from the comics. We already know a lot about from where he came from. Itâs a little bit more horrible than what it is in the comics when you come down to it. We will learn more about that.â
Universe-616 AKA Earth-616 is the main comic book canon universe. Anything thatâs not canon to the comic books is set in a different universe with a different number. For example, the MCU number is Earth-199999. So heâs said that 616 Rocket Raccoon origins arenât the same as our 199999 Rocket.
Also, James Gunn confirmed that Rocket isnât an Earth/Terran raccoon. Hence the drop of âRaccoonâ at the end of his title. Cause heâs not a raccoon!
This is also made apparent when Drax recognises Rocketâs species in Vol.1:
"I recognise this animal. We'd roast them over a flame pit as children. Their flesh was quite delicious."
Anyway, weâve established that Rocket isnât from earth, heâs a raccoon-like alien species that someone experimented on. He is from Halfworld but, James has hinted at retconning this.
He didnât say it was that fact in particular, but he has stated multiple times that Rocket and Groot are his two favourite characters so I believe he would want to explore them more. That, and Gamora being the last of her species has already been retconned in Infinity War. While Gunn could retcon Tibius Lark in Grootâs bio, it wouldnât make any sense as that Groot is dead, and thereâs no one in the comics with that name. A bit of a mystery.
So I would say heâs retconning Rocketâs origin planet, or the fact that one of his listed associates is Lylla (the otter). James Gunn has already basically said that Lylla is not going to make an appearance because their love and Lylla herself could get âreally cartoonyâ which is something they were very worried about as they considered leaving Rocket out of the Guardians films. Either way, itâs safe to assume Rocket was made for a different reason than a companion for the insane.
Now to the meta.
From GOTG Vol.1, James Gunn has said that he likes Adam Warlock a lot and does want him to make an appearance. The post credit scene of Vol.2 hints at his appearance in the next film.
In the comics, heâs not made by Ayesha (The Sovereign High Priestess), but sheâs his genetic twin. He escapes his first creators, almost dies at Thorâs hands, then goes into a cocoon again. When he comes out the second time, High Evolutionary AKA Herbert Wyndham becomes his mentor/adoptive father. And also gives him the Soul Stone.
In the movie, Ayesha has created him and thatâs all we know from there. Will he seek the Guardians to destroy them like Ayesha wants? Or will he break out before we even see in in GOTG Vol.3 and heâs with Herbert?
The findings in the Easter Egg hunt point out that before choosing Ego, Rocket flicks through a list of planets: Drez-Lar, Hala, Terra and Terma.
Drez-Lar I canât find out much about. Nova (Ryder) was there once. From the name you can tell itâs a Kree planet, but other than that I had a hard time with info.
Hala is the Kree homeworld. In the comics, itâs actually destroyed. Iâm assuming itâs not decimated in the MCU seeing as itâs showing up in the system.
Terra is Earth! Quillâs home planet.
Now, Terma. Terma is only mentioned once in the entirety of the comics. Gunn could have chosen any planet thatâs more well known for the viewers to cameo. But he didnât. Terma is the Kree outworld where two characters found Adam Warlock in his cocoon. After Adam is awakened, he flies to a laboratory inside Termaâs star where he rendez-vous with his adoptive father Herbert Wyndham (High Evolutionary).
This is the important link.
High Evolutionary is a scientist, a master geneticist. Extremely intelligent. Not exactly the most humane person. He did... experiments.
He created the New Men. The New Men are, and I quote, an âartificial race of mutagenically altered, human-sized animals created to possess human-equivalent minds and consciousnessâ. Sound like someone we know?
Now, thereâs a difference with Rocket here though.
Rocket isnât human sized. My bet is on Rocket being an early experiment of his, instead of him being naturally bipedal, he has a normal alien-raccoon skeleton, so Herbert tore him apart and put him back together over, and over, and turned him... bipedal.
Herbert hadnât figured out the minutiae of the process, hence why Rocket was an experiment, and not a creation. This also is further supported by Rocket saying âAinât no thing like me, âcept meâ; Rocket was a failure so Herbert didnât follow the process to make another one like him.
Also, mutagenically altered (how they describe the New Men) and genetically engineered (how they describe Rocket) mean the same thing, just different wording.
Another thing to note: Herbert banished a sentient cockroach (going to be a part of the New Men) into space because he was cocky and refused to follow Herbertâs orders. That sounds like something Rocket would do as well.
Also, it may just be coincidence, but there are a few other things in Vol.2 I want to point out that seem like a nod to Rocketâs past as well.
Firstly, we are reminded of Rocketâs past by the man himself as they try to manoeuvre the quantum asteroid field:
âI was genetically engineered to pilot a spacecraftâ
Then right after that, they crash land on Berhert. Which is a real place in the comic books, but itâs also an anagram for Herbert. Coincidence? Maybe. But James Gunn could have made them crash on any other planet in the universe. He chose this one.
Secondly, he is called something heâs not a total of six times on Berhert.
âYeah, thatâs how eyesight works, you stupid raccoon!â - Quill
âIâm sorry. I took it too far. I meant trash panda.â - Quill
âCan I pet your puppy? He is adorable.â - Mantis
âYour associates are welcome. Even that triangle-faced monkey over there.â - Ego
âYouâre leaving me here with that fox?!â - Nebula
âHey there, rat.â - Yondu
Six times on the planet Berhert, the audience are subconsciously reminded that, no, heâs not any of those things. Heâs a raccoon-like genetically-enhanced alien.
Thirdly, in a metaphorical basis, The Sovereign drove Rocket into facing his past (Chased them to crash land on Berhert [Berhert = Herbert] plus the constant name-calling bringing his past to attention).
Is this foreshadowing Volume 3? I think so. My predictions for the movie is that Adam (created by The Sovereign) and Herbert will be in it, and that they will be the antagonists. This will force Rocket to confront his past, among other things. I canât go into much more detail about why I believe this is going to happen because I am not about to spoil endgame for anyone.
I will upload a follow-up theory to go with this one as to why I believe Adam and Herbert are so important for the next GOTG film (+ the future MCU) in the coming weeks.Â
the russo bros really said fuck guardian lives huh
Edit: this has nothing to do with plot, I just wish James was there to help with the russos because he got fired during shooting of IW/EG. I tagged it as spoilers because it can definitely come off as one but itâs nothing to do with the plot!
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