I’m a pretty casual Marvel fan who doesn’t read the comics, but I consider the Guardians of the Galaxy to be my favorite heroes in the comic book company’s universe these days. Even though I knew Rocket Raccoon’s backstory through the game adaptations, I was completely unprepared for how brutal it was going to be Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3. This is PSA for all the animal lovers out there: be ready for a tough time during Marvel’s latest found family space dramedy.
To keep this as spoiler-free as possible, we’re not going to go into detail here about how the Marvel Cinematic Universe depicts Rocket’s story, but rather everyone who has seen the original Protector of the Galaxy in 2014 knows a little what our walking, talking raccoon friend went through before he met Star-Lord and co. Early in the first film, Rocket gets into a drunken fight with Drax the Destroyer when he’s tired of being called things like “bugs”. He reveals that he is the product of violent experimentation, but by whom and for what purpose is unclear.
“I didn’t ask to be made. I didn’t ask to be torn apart and put back together again and again and turned into a little monster.”
Unless you’re a comic book fanatic and you’re mostly alone with the Marvel movies, that’s all we really know about where Rocket came from. However, his past is the focus of the plot in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, and we spend much of the film watching the Bradley Cooper-voiced hero grow up in a laboratory where he and other intelligent animals are subjected to rigorous experimentation and perpetually in a general state of distress. There are elements of animal body horror, abuse, and intense grief all centered around Rocket and his animal counterparts, and it can be hard for a Marvel film to watch.
While we’re not going to go into spoilers, it’s worth noting that if you’re a person who has major problems seeing animals suffer, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 sits with this story for much of its runtime. Maybe just me sensitive to such things having recently lost a pet, but I cried more than a few times watching Rocket’s story unfold. I really loved where the movie landed at the end, but if you can’t watch Marley & I because you don’t like to see animals suffer, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 maybe not for you. Be prepared.
