Rocket Raccoon's Backstory Has Been On James Gunn's Mind Since The First Guardians Of The Galaxy

With the release of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," director James Gunn will be bringing his Marvel Cinematic Universe trilogy to a close. As has been made clear in the lead-up to the film's release, Rocket Raccoon will be taking center stage this time around, and we're finally going to learn a lot more about the character's backstory. But this wasn't an idea that Gunn cooked up just for this movie: it's been rattling around since the inception of this franchise.

Gunn recently spoke with Collider in anticipation of the film's release. During the interview, he was asked about the inclusion of Rocket's backstory in "Vol. 3." The filmmaker explains that he actually cooked up what audiences see in the film way back when he was writing the first "Guardians" movie around a decade ago.

"There's some that's taken from the comics, but there was always this concept of Halfworld, and of course, Lylla is his girlfriend in the comics, but it's a little bit different than that. I didn't see it exactly like that. It was very important for me to tell this story because this was the thing that got me to write the first movie, and so people out here have asked, 'So when did you come up with this backstory? Where was it?' And I said, 'I actually came up with the backstory before I wrote the story for Guardians 1.' So Rocket's past, his history, was a part of who I thought Rocket was from the very beginning."

It's pretty remarkable that in the MCU, where seemingly so much is planned out so far in advance, Gunn has carried this around with him for nearly ten years. The original "Guardians of the Galaxy" came out in 2014 and had a lot of heavy lifting to do in terms of introducing audiences to these characters. It's easy to forget just how obscure the likes of Star-Lord and Groot were before that movie became a huge blockbuster smash. The point is, Gunn wouldn't have had a way to incorporate the backstory in the first film.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" was very much Peter Quill's story and a story about family. Again, that movie had a lot on its plate and it's hard to imagine putting this backstory anywhere in there. So Gunn waited patiently until the time was right. He even suffered through being fired from the film before ultimately being re-hired to finish what he started all those years ago. Much of that was motivated by his wanting to finish telling Rocket's story.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" hits theaters on May 5, 2023.

In Marvel Studios' "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" our beloved band of misfits are looking a bit different these days. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him to defend the universe along with protecting one of their own. A mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.