When the first ever Guardians of the Galaxy trailer premiered last year and fans scrawled through it frame-by-frame looking for details, many learned an interesting factoid about Rocket Raccoon. Listed along with with Groot as a known associate was someone named Lylla, which some quick research would reveal to many as Rocket's soulmate. Naturally, this has fed plenty of speculation that the character could find her way into Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but director James Gunn has shut down those talks with good reason: he's not done having Rocket be sad and lonely just yet.
This past weekend, the filmmaker took to his personal Facebook account for a special live Guardians of the Galaxy commentary/Q&A session, and it was in this forum that James Gunn explained why it will be a while before we get to see a big screen version of Lylla - an alien from the planet Halfworld who is essentially a sentient otter. Asked if there was a chance we could wind up seeing the key character at some point in the future, the director said,
"You'll have to wait and see on Lylla. But I will say I think a raccoon being sexually attracted to an otter is similar to a human being sexually attracted to a possum. I think it's very important that Rocket is the only thing like him, which is the source of his sadness and loneliness. An otter girlfriend could get really cartoony really."
It is a bit odd to say that something is a bit too cartoony for a franchise starring both a talking racoon and a talking tree, but it's also very easy to see where James Gunn is coming from here. Not only was Rocket's stupendously acerbic attitude one of the best elements of Guardians of the Galaxy - an attitude he might lose if deeply in love - but there is also a tremendous amount of pathos in the character living with memories of horrific surgeries and being the only one in the universe quite like him. You can start taking that in a different direction further down the line, but there is also no real reason to rush it.
For reference, you can see the Lylla "Easter Egg" in the image below (click the image to see it in its highest resolution):
Taking the conversation to a broader spectrum, James Gunn was also asked during the commentary if we would get to see more of Rocket's backstory unfold in general in coming films. The filmmaker didn't provide a ton of details on the subject, but it is clear that he has a plan. He wrote,
"I have it all worked out, but I'm not sure when it would be the best to go into it. I think it's some great stuff. It's different from the comics."
It will probably be a while before we hear any really firm details about Guardians of the Galaxy 2, given that its May 5, 2017 release date is still about two and a half years away, but it's interesting to watch all these various tidbits and details come together as the project moves through development.
