The Marvel Cinematic Universe has introduced a lot of interesting characters over the last 12 years, and among the most unique of this bunch is Rocket Raccoon, the weapons-obsessed member of the Guardians of the Galaxy who has quite the mouth on him.
As we haven’t developed the technology yet to boost raccoon intelligence, enable them to consistently walk on two legs and speak like a human, naturally Rocket Raccoon has to be created through CGI. As you’ll see, the process through which Rocket is digitally created is kind of horrifying, and yet you’re hard pressed to stop looking.
As you can see in this Filmthusiast post, one just doesn’t get Rocket Raccoon’s furry self right off the bat. You need to get the entire anatomy down, which means there are instances when a purely muscular Rocket will haunt your dreams. Sure, the skeletal one’s a bit sketchy too, but he’s also a little cute in his own special way. But the worst one of all is the all-shaved Rocket, whose head looks like he’s wearing a black mask. There’s no way Disney could market that look.
It’s also worth remembering that there’s more to bringing Rocket Raccoon than just playing around on a computer. This is a motion capture role, so when the MCU movies are shooting, Sean Gunn (who also plays Ravager member Kraglin) physically portrays the character on set. It’s a physically demanding job, and while Bradley Cooper ultimately voices Rocket, Gunn enjoys his time getting to play the character opposite the other actors.
While he might not be as big a breakout character as Groot was, Rocket Raccoon has certainly enjoyed his fair share of popularity since Guardians of the Galaxy dropped in 2014. And luckily for him, he was one of the MCU heroes who wasn’t turned to dust by Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity War, allowing him to take part in the mission to undo The Snap in Avengers: Endgame. Now he’s back with his family and exploring the cosmos again.
Naturally Rocket Raccoon is expected to return in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and while plot details haven’t revealed yet, James Gunn promised that there are big things in store for him. This’ll presumably include learning how Rocket came to be, because although we’ve seen his scars and cybernetic implants, no specific details have been revealed yet about the experimentation done on him.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hasn’t been given a release date, but we here at CinemaBlend will let you know whenever the threequel is given a spot on the calendar. That said, it’s possible we could see Rocket Raccoon in the MCU even sooner than that since some, if not all of the Guardians are expected to appear in Thor: Love and Thunder, which comes out on February 11, 2022.
As for what else the MCU has coming down the pipeline, you can find that information in our comprehensive guide.
