Much has been said about the various tragic journeys of the heroes of Avengers: Infinity War. As well as half the cast turning to dust as a result of Thanos’ devastating snap, it’s hard not to feel for some of the survivors who were left behind to contemplate their failure and the loss of their loved ones in the aftermath.
But amidst all this, one character whose pain often gets overlooked is Guardians of the Galaxy star Rocket Raccoon. His friend Gamora is one of the first major heroes to die in the film and then the rest of his colleagues are disintegrated in the genocidal climax. It’s a tragedy that’s foreshadowed earlier during the movie when we see an exchange between Thor and his new ‘rabbit’ friend, and has now been worked into an interesting new fan theory over on Reddit.
You see, one user has gone back and re-watched Infinity War and by putting together a few pieces of evidence, has brought forward the idea that Rocket will have a pretty large role to play in Avengers 4. To begin with, he explains how the character mirrors a lot of the other surviving heroes.
First of all, Rocket Raccoon has gone through a lot of the same experiences as other Avengers. Mainly Nebula, Captain America, and Tony Stark.
Nebula and Rocket have both had their bodies modified, turning them into monsters and outcasts. Also, they are both the only survivors that aren’t exactly good guys. Rocket being a criminal and thief before joining the Guardians and Nebula of course killing lots of people under Thanos. Who better to help Nebula defeat her father than Rocket, the other outsider of the surviving Avengers?
Captain America – This one is a little looser. They both share the experience of losing their best friend, not only once, but twice. Captain America lost Bucky fighting Hydra and after the snap. Rocket lost Groot before defeating Ronin and after the snap. This just adds more motivation for these two to taken down Thanos.
Tony Stark – Rocket is prideful and greedy, characteristics that Tony Stark used to have before becoming Iron Man. Through Tony’s experiences in his movies as well as his sacrifice in New York City in Avengers 1, he has developed into Earth’s best defender. Rocket has yet to make that development, which I think he will in the next Avenger’s movie.
Next, the Redditor draws our attention to the fact that Rocket’s the only surviving Avenger to have held an Infinity Stone. Namely, the Power Stone.
I can’t really think of why this is significant, but it does make him unique. Since Vision described the Mind stone as a living entity, could it be possible some of the Power Stone still lives with Rocket?– I haven’t seen all the Marvel movies, so I may be wrong on this point.
Finally, the theory ties it all together by pointing out that Bradley Cooper’s talking raccoon is perhaps the most afraid of Thanos out of all the surviving heroes, which would make it more meaningful if he were to play a big part in the Mad Titan’s demise.
I believe this is the most important detail of the movies. Fear is a theme for Rocket. In Guardians 2, Yondu shares with Rocket that they are both scared of getting close to others. In Infinity War, Star-Lord says to Rocket that he is only going to Nidavellir with Thor because Thanos is not there. Lastly, Rocket is the only Avenger in Infinity War that did not fight Thanos. At the end of Infinity War when Thanos is making his way to Vision, every Avenger in Wakanda attempts to stop him EXCEPT Rocket. Why is that? I’m guessing because he was too scared. Perhaps the next time Rocket faces Thanos, he won’t be held back by his fear.
Of course, we’ll need to sit tight and wait until Avengers 4 is with us next May to learn what Marvel’s real plan is for Rocket, but it’s no secret that he was spared for a reason and something tells us that this theory isn’t too far off the mark.
