It’s me, your resident Rocket Raccoon stan logging on to say that I want James Gunn to pay for the relaxation I need to do after seeing Rocket all strapped up before he is turned into a weapon. I’m talking about the new look at Rocket in the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Rocket Raccoon is my third favorite Marvel character. It is not a bit, but simply my truth.
I think I love how deep a talking raccoon can really be? He’s angry, hurt, and hides it all behind his own sarcasm and humor —yet you can still see his pain when someone acts like Rocket is less than the rest of the team. He’s my fragile boy and, while I’ve always known that he was tortured to become the Rocket I know and love, I never wanted to see what happened to him.
As I am writing this, I started crying thinking about the life that a fictional talking raccoon has had. That’s how much I love Rocket. So when a baby version of Rocket showed up, scared and looking like he was about to cry, I realized that maybe I love him too much. The trailer gave us a look at Rocket before he was turned into the talking creature we see with Star Lord, Groot, Drax, Gamora, Nebula, and Mantis. It’s surprisingly emotional,as well as being scary for me, someone who doesn’t want Rocket to die.
What the inclusion of Rocket’s backstory does is bring about my fear that Rocket is going to die in Vol. 3.
There is still more of Rocket’s story to tell
I know that, to many, Rocket’s death would be briefly sad and then they’d carry on with their lives. For me, I know I’d be distraught and feel like a part of me is gone. How people feel about Tony and Steve being gone? That’s me with Rocket.
As we were talking about Rocket Raccoon in the Mary Sue slack, our Julia Glassman pointed out that if he was a human character, he’d be praised as being one of the best out there. Instead, many people write him off (not me) and it has led to this fear inside me that they’d kill him off to give the human Guardians something to mourn. And please, don’t!
Rocket has a lot to live for and a lot of story we haven’t seen. Lylla (Rocket’s love interest) is just now showing up and I want him to be happy for a while. And come on, it’s not that hard to keep including Rocket in things. He’s funny and a CGI Raccoon. All you have to do is pay Bradley Cooper to say some lines. Please, for me, let him live!
To make up for it all, here is a moment where my favorite boy was incredibly happy. Obviously, it’s when he was spun around while shooting at things by Bucky Barnes.
As I’ve said before, please don’t kill my boy, James. I love him too much.
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
