New Batch of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” Images & Videos Tease Rocket’s Heartbreaking Past

May 5, 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 has arrived, and with it, the tragic backstory for the character that writer/director James Gunn first connected with when he was pitching Marvel his vision for the franchise.

As Gunn told The Hollywood Reporter in a big profile piece on him, it was Rocket who rescued him after a lackluster first meeting with Marvel. “As he was driving his Dodge Challenger back to his Studio City home, stuck in traffic on the 405, something clicked. He saw what the movie could be, with Rocket, a little-known talking raccoon from the comics that Marvel wanted to include, at its center,” Aaron Couch and Borys Kit write. “Where did that Raccoon come from? How did he come to be? Instead of it being something that made the movie ungrounded, it actually grounded it for me,” Gunn told them.

Now, Gunn is sharing the answers to those questions with the rest of the world, and it’s unsurprising given that initial Rocket-inspired lightbulb that the final film in the trilogy will be focused, at least in part, on Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), the gruff weapons expert who also happens to be a talking raccoon. Vol. 3 will finally explore exactly how Rocket came to be, with his story tied directly to the film’s big villain, the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji). New videos released by Gunn himself and images released by Marvel tease that backstory, revealing the other animals that the High Evolutionary experimented on to create his demented vision of a “perfect society.”

The High Evolutionary’s sadistic torture of animals is the darkest theme ever explored in a Guardians movie and one of the darkest in the MCU, period. The new images introduce us to some of Rocket’s fellow victims, including the walrus Teefs and the otter Lylla.

It’s not all doom and gloom, however. Vol. 3 is focused on the lengths the Guardians will go for each other and the love they have for one another, love expressed, of course, mostly through jokes. And then there’s this test footage that Gunn shared of Rocket as a baby that’s sure to warm not only Guardian fans’ hearts but pretty much anybody with a pulse:

Baby #RocketGG test footage from @Framestore UK for #GotGVol3 pic.twitter.com/x187OZ45rW

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 1, 2023

And here’s footage Gunn shared of the “space otter” Lylla:

Meet Lylla, the very best space otter ever. Get your tickets to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 now! https://t.co/v9HL8xrufl pic.twitter.com/kjDEU4QmON

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 4, 2023

Vol. 3 will explore more than just Rocket’s backstory and his connection to the High Evolutionary, of course, but it’s a major part of the film’s heart and soul. All of the original Guardians return for the final adventure—Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff). Joining the High Evolutionary on the villainous side of the ledger is Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), created by the Queen of the Sovereign, Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, with the express purpose of hunting down the Guardians and finishing them off.

Now that Vol. 3 is finally here, the Guardians story, at least this version of the Guardians, draws to a close. And Rocket’s particular part in all of this will finally be made clear. It’s a sad story with, we hope, a happy ending.

Check out the new images below. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in theaters now: