Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has finally shared the emotional story of how Rocket met Groot.
Gunn revealed details of Rocket and Groot's origin story while discussing a short film he started to develop but never released. He shared the revelation after a fan asked about Tibius Lark, a character mentioned in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. He explained that the film would have offered insight into their backstory.
"I wrote a short film explaining the origin of how Rocket and Groot met," Gunn posted on Threads. "It was even storyboarded and location scouted, and we did test footage for it (it was seen at SDCC in the 'trailer' we cut together after 12 days of shooting). But I didn't have time to do it as Vol 1 amped up. In it, Tibius Lark, Groot, and Rocket were all imprisoned in a deep well in the ground. Tibius was on the verge of dying. He explained to Rocket he had been caring for Groot for years."
"He was a former zookeeper in a s**tty galactic-side zoo," he added, sharing more about the mysterious Tibius Lark. "He explained he had saved Groot, who was on exhibit there, and that Groot was a loyal friend. He asked Rocket to please take care of him, and then he died. As he died, Rocket looked down in the dark cell and noticed he was a robot, the lower body of his body smashed open and mechanical.
"The guards above ground heard something rumbling, and they turned and saw Rocket and Groot bursting up from the ground, Rocket on Groot's shoulder, and in Rocket's hands was a machine gun made from Tibius Lark's body, and he shot all the guards, and they escaped and were together until they met the Guardians."
Over the years, there has been a lot of discussion about a potential Rocket and Groot spin-off movie. It was looking "highly possible" that the dynamic duo would get their own feature in 2016, with Groot voice actor Vin Diesel suggesting if it was "up to James Gunn" one would have come out after Avengers: Infinity War.
At one time, Marvel also planned to introduce Star-Lord and his ragtag crew through four short films before the characters made their big-screen debuts in the first Guardians movie in 2014. However, MCU boss Kevin Feige decided to scrap the idea because he felt a One-Shot series for the Guardians was excessive.
While none of that ever came to fruition, Rocket became the protagonist of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn emphasized that Rocket's story was "the most important thing" about the trilogy-capper, and the wise-cracking racoon voiced by Bradley Cooper featured heavily in the trailers leading up to the movie's theatrical release.
IGN awarded Guardians Vol. 3 an 8/10, saying, "The Guardians of the Galaxy deliver their swan song in Vol. 3 and it's a rockin' good time. Through Rocket's tragic origin story, we're given a new appreciation for this whole family of lovable malcontents… This movie sends them out on an emotional and action-packed high note."
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.
