Guardians of the Galaxy introduced a lot of new characters that went on to become pretty popular with fans, but chief among them might be Rocket Raccoon, whose wild and cantankerous attitude stole a number of scenes. That movie was about outsiders learning to find a family in each other, and that theme will continue for Rocket's arc in the sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Now that he's found a place in the universe, Rocket will start to wonder if he even deserves it.
Bradley Cooper provided the voice for Rocket Raccoon, but a big credit for bringing the CGI character to life also goes to Sean Gunn, who stood in on-set and provided the motion capture (as well as improvising some lines that made it into the movie). Brother of director James Gunn, Sean Gunn spoke with ComicBook.com about Rocket's role in the upcoming sequel, and said:
Oh yeah! Rocket has a lot of great stuff to do in this movie. There are a few relationships that are central to the theme of the movie and that really go towards keeping a family... and Rocket has the same sort of crisis of faith about whether or not he belongs in this family.
Apparently, Rocket has plenty to do in the sequel and he'll be having a crisis of faith by the time audiences catch back up with him. James Gunn has previously said that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is about family and fatherhood. Keeping with the family theme, Rocket will come to question if he belongs with the Guardians, and one would imagine that that has something to do with his origins. Rocket is an illegally genetically modified raccoon and, in his words, there "ain't no thing like me, except me." Maybe that comes into play in the sequel, where he's unsure if he has a place anywhere because of how he's the only one of his kind.
Perhaps another reason for Rocket's personal crisis has to do with whatever's going on with Groot. After sacrificing himself to save the team, Groot is reborn and hasn't quite grown to his full size yet. A big part of Groot's storyline is if he is still the old Groot with all his memories or an entirely new one. If the latter turns out to be the case, then Rocket might be disheartened that his best friend has essentially died, which leads him to question his spot on the team.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is written and directed by James Gunn and features the return of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. While Rocket deals with his emotional baggage, Peter Quill will be meeting his daddy issues head on when he meets his father, Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell). The film is scheduled to hit theaters on May 5, 2017.
