Rocket's Saddest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Ending Isn't His Death

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will end the current iteration of the eponymous team in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, wrapping up the ongoing story regarding several key characters, including Bradley Cooper's Rocket Raccoon. The first trailer for the film, which is set to hit theaters in May, heavily featured Rocket, including several harrowing scenes that implied that the beloved character would meet a tragic death by the movie's end. However, while many theories suggest that Rocket Raccoon will indeed die during the events of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, his death isn't the saddest possible ending to his character arc.

James Gunn has teased Guardians 3's many deaths, leading audiences to wonder which members of the Guardians will meet an untimely end during the course of the film's events. Rocket Raccoon appears to be among the most likely casualties, especially after the first trailer confirmed that the film will explore his backstory and origin. Guardians 3 has even been suggested to be Rocket's final appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, bringing the character's arc to an end no matter what may happen. However, other characters like Drax and Star-Lord have also been the subject of heavy rumors regarding their deaths, leaving the film's death count a complete mystery.

Rocket's Saddest Ending Is Losing The Guardians

Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Rocket Raccoon and Star Lord

Rocket is already the Guardians' most tragic member, but his story would only grow sadder if he were to lose the other Guardians of the Galaxy during their upcoming fight with the High Evolutionary. Besides Groot, Rocket has never had any friends or family who accepted him for who he is but was instead labeled a freak and an outcast. After leading a long life of crime, it seemed impossible that Rocket would ever have anything resembling a family--until he met the Guardians. As little as he would like to admit it, Rocket truly loves each member of his Guardians teammates, who have finally made him feel like he belongs.

Many of the Guardians of the Galaxy seem marked to die in their upcoming film, and any one of their deaths would absolutely crush Rocket. The members of his team are the only family he's ever known, and losing some, if not all, of them would be an even worse fate for the beloved character than his own death. Already, Rocket has suffered through the loss of his team for five years, as well as the additional deaths of Groot, Yondu, and Gamora prior to the Blip. Losing this family again would be a far worse fate than death for Rocket, who only ever wanted to find love.

Will Rocket Survive Guardians Of The Galaxy 3?

Rocket Raccoon looking troubled in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Several months away from the film's release date, discourse is heated regarded whether or not Rocket Raccoon will survive the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The story is set to explore Rocket's origin with the High Evolutionary, making him the emotional center of the film. Given the climactic nature of Guardians 3 and the franchise's proclivity for ending each film with a major death, Rocket is the most obvious candidate for a third-act death scene. James Gunn himself has even indicated that the upcoming film will be Rocket's final appearance in the MCU, making things look even bleaker for the beloved raccoon.

However, a case remains to be made that the first trailer for Guardians 3 is merely aiming to mislead audiences into thinking that Rocket will be the major death of the film. Despite the trailer's many clues that Rocket will die, it seems very uncharacteristic for Marvel Studios to be so open about this massive occurrence in a film's promotional material. It may be that Marvel is setting up Rocket's demise in the trailers only to mask a different death in the film itself. Regardless, the eponymous team is unlikely to emerge unscathed from the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Rocket may be among the casualties.

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