After rewatching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, I can’t get over how much the MCU movie changes an ᴀssortment of scenes that Rocket has in the franchise beforehand. The MCU timeline is arguably built for rewatching and revisiting movies multiple times, with this often leading to an enhanced experience for viewers in terms of story or catching subtle moments.

Though the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy doesn’t require rewatching to be understood, it’s arguably one of the MCU trilogies that most benefits from giving its story another viewing. This is perhaps most true for the arc of Rocket Raccoon, which is drastically transformed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Fills In A Lot Of Gaps About Rocket’s MCU Backstory

While the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie’s main revelation in terms of Rocket’s story is making him the new leader of the team by the time of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ending, the film is filled with important information that had previously only really been alluded to.

Though the films beforehand had made it clear Rocket had a brutal origin story, the flashback sequences in the 2023 movie make a lot of specifics clear. These specifics consequently turn Rocket’s story thus far on its head to some degree, underscoring why he made a lot of the choices that he did on his journey up to this point.

Rocket having been made sentient by the High Evolutionary as just one of a wide array of experiments – and then scheduled for death by his creator because he didn’t fit his arbitrary standards of what the villain wanted his “new world” to look like – is heartwrenching by itself. This story then seeing him witness his friends’ deaths is even worse.

The deaths of Rocket’s fellow experiments and first-ever friends – Lylla, Teefs and Floor – in the escape attempt Rocket starts upon learning they’re set to be killed is one of the saddest sequences in the MCU’s history. It’s also a sequence that retroactively makes many different parts of several movies look different in hindsight.

Rocket’s Origin Story Adds Context To A Lot Of Guardians Of The Galaxy Movie Scenes

First and foremost, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Rocket origin story scenes change a lot about the original 2014 MCU movie. Rocket’s protectiveness over Groot – the only other friend he seems to have had at this stage – looks very different with his backstory in mind, as does his immediate hatred for The Collector and his penchant for living “collectibles”.

The hero’s reluctance to trust the rest of the Guardians for most of the film also makes a lot more sense after gaining this context. Ultimately, Rocket losing the only people he truly trusted while he was trying to save them paints his at the time more standoffish nature in a more sympathetic light.

That said, this backstory also makes it seem that Rocket was realistically never going to leave the Guardians behind in the movie’s prison break despite them having not been close at this point in time, given how much it mirrors his prior failed escape with his friends – which also further justifies his grief over Groot’s death, and relief over his rebirth.

Though Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 sees Rocket be an established member of the team from the offset, the ways in which he is still defined and influenced by his origin story are clear. This is most poignantly true in Rocket and Yondu’s argument, wherein Yondu calls the hero out, telling him:

“I know everything about you. I know you play like you’re the meanest and the hardest, but actually you’re the most scared of all… I know you steal batteries you don’t need, and you push away anyone who’s willing to put up with you, because just a little bit of love reminds you how big and empty that hole inside you actually is… I know them scientists what made you never gave a rat’s ᴀss about you… just like my own damn parents, who sold me – their own little baby – into slavery. I know who you are, boy, because you’re me.”

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 showing just how true this actually was retrospectively makes the dynamic between Yondu and Rocket more important, and shows how Yondu may have been key to Rocket eventually making peace with his past. Similarly, Rocket’s origin story parallels with Star-Lord’s father figure Yondu help explain why he and Quill are so at odds initially.

However, perhaps the most important way the final film makes Rocket’s MCU story look different is by showing how much meeting the Guardians changed him. It’s clear the events of his youth could have scarred Rocket in a way he never healed from, but meeting the other flawed but deep-down heroic MCU protagonists truly gave him the purpose he needed.

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Also Changes How Rocket’s Infinity War & Endgame Appearances Look

The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy is one of those movie series where there’s always more layers and more subtle, nuanced moments to appreciate upon repeat viewings. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 makes that particularly true for the trilogy, since it plays so much on previous setups, like the allusions to Rocket’s backstory.

However, Rocket’s scenes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame are also more interesting after being given the full picture of where the hero’s arc started. Perhaps the most underrated of these is Rocket’s hurt but tired reaction to being called a build-a-bear by Iron Man, which in retrospect is a jab that’s perhaps too close to home.

Similarly, Rocket’s gentle questioning of whether Thor is okay in Avengers: Infinity War after hearing how many people he’s lost suggests he saw a kindred spirit in him. It may also explain why Rocket is perhaps a little softer on Thor in Thor: Love & Thunder subsequently, since he seems to under-react to the screaming goats Thor brought onto their ship.

Hopefully, Rocket’s story will become even more nuanced with future MCU releases, which have the potential to enrich his and the wider Guardians’ arcs more going forward. However, either way, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Rocket story makes these previous films fascinating to revisit, and truly displays the appeal of the series and its writing.