Warning: SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are ahead!
There are numerous reasons why Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has received a lot of positive reception from critics and fans alike, which includes delving into the tragic backstory of Rocket Raccoon, whom director/writer James Gunn once called the franchise’s “secret protagonist.” The threequel showed haunting flashbacks of Rocket’s time being under The High Evolutionary’s thumb, with arguably that only bright spot during that time being when he made friends with some of his fellow cybernetically-augmented animals, including Lylla the otter, voiced by established MCU vet Linda Cardellini. Now that Vol. 3 has come out, it turns out there’s an Easter egg concerning Lylla in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie that only people who’ve seen this 2023 new movie release will now understand.
When we met Rocket in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, he was on Xandar with Groot trying to capture Peter Quill so they could collect the bounty on him but the fight between these three and Gamora led to all of them being imprisoned by the Nova Corps. But before being thrown behind bars, they had their “mugshots” taken, and while Rocket was front and center, there’s now a piece of background information about him that stands out. See for yourself below:
See that other associate of Rocket’s besides Groot? At the time, only hardcore fans of Rocket Raccoon from the comics would have recognized Lylla’s name, but now that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is out, it’ll catch the eye of a lot more people rewatching Guardians of the Galaxy with their Disney+ subscription while going through the Marvel movies in order. However, this does present a bit of a continuity issue, because as seen in Vol. 3, Lylla, along with Teefs and Floor, were killed before they ever had a chance to experience life outside of The High Evolutionary’s compound. How would the Nova Corps know about her when she’d never even been outside?
Well as it turns out, apparently that mention of Lylla in Guardians might be something that James Gunn wants to retcon. Back in 2017, a little over a month after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the filmmaker said at the E3 World Building Panel that there was something in Rocket’s portion of the mugshot sequence that was “one of those things that I’m thinking about changing.” At the time, Gizmodo speculated that Lylla was the most likely candidate for what Gunn was referring to, referencing a Facebook Q&A where he expressed reluctance to use Lylla in the Guardians of the Galaxy film series.
But eventually Gunn changed his mind, and while Rocket and Lylla weren’t romantically intertwined like in the comics, she was still a crucial figure in his life for the brief time they were together.As for the mention of Lylla in Guardians, it’s hard to say if Gunn is still wanting to scrub that from the movie or is ok with leaving it in. With the former, that would conceivably be doable with future physical copies of the movie, the digital versions and what’s on Disney+, but obviously it would remain in all the Blu-ray and DVDs already out in the world. Regardless, at least now there’s an extra element of this movie to enjoy once you’ve taken in what happens in Vol. 3.
Be sure to read through our Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ending piece and breakdown of Vol. 3’s end-credits scenes to learn/remember where it leaves things with Rocket and the other starring characters. As always, CinemaBlend will continue sharing important news concerning upcoming Marvel movies and upcoming Marvel TV shows.
