Why Rocket is Guardian of the Galaxy’s MPV

It’s easy to relegate Rocket Raccoon to the role of furry sidekick. A cute but fierce and able member of a team of crusaders known as the Guardians of the Galaxy, headed up by de facto leader Peter Quill. But he’s so much more than that.

In fact, we’d go so far to say he’s the Guardians’ MVP. And when you see the evidence, laid out below, you won’t hesitate to agree.

As Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brings Rocket front and center in a plot in which his team must save his life, let’s take a look at all of the reasons why Rocket is the Guardians of the Galaxy’s most valuable player. And why they’ll struggle to save his life… without him.

He’s got morals

Although Rocket can be rude and insulting – and he’s a thief – he’s loyal and has a strong moral compass. From the moment we first meet him in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, this is established when we see him passing judgment on Stan Lee’s cameo character, who is apparently chatting up a young woman.

“Where’s your wife, old man?” says Rocket. “What a Class-A prevert.”  In spite of appearances, Rocket actually sets a precedent here that the Guardians will follow. They will eventually grow to value love and their connections with one another above all else, with Quill even giving up womanising as he falls for Gamora.

Rocket, the tree hugger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6fgz3L2sJc

Not only is Rocket responsible through his relationship with Groot for bringing a super-effective member of the team to the Guardians of the Galaxy (not to mention being able to interpret for him and then later becoming a father figure to the sapling incarnation), his bond with Groot is an example to them all. 

At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, when Groot has sacrificed himself to save them all, Rocket’s love for his friend is clear and it helps to cement the team’s bond as a whole and bring them closer together as a found family.

He’s an escape artist

Not only do we learn in GotG Vol. 1 that – according to the genetically engineered, cybernetically enhanced raccoon himself – he’s previously escaped from 22 prisons, but we also see that he’s learned to handle himself inside.

When Gamora and Peter Quill are thrown into the Kyln with Rocket and Groot, it quickly becomes clear that without him, they’re toast. His experience, coupled with the no doubt numerous scrapes he’s been in, enable Rocket to keep the other prisoners – particularly intent on getting at daughter of Thanos, Gamora – at bay with tough talk and threats.

He also masterminds a plan to escape – which might not go smoothly but does get them all working together for the first time, Drax included, and ultimately leads to them getting out. Rocket is the glue that bonds the Guardians together.

He’s great at partnerships

…and thereby also strengthening the team. There’s no one better among the Guardians of the Galaxy at teaming up with another person and making effective and meaningful connections.

At various times, Rocket has been thrown together with another character and established a constructive, sometimes even close, relationship. In GotG Vol. 2, he’s forced to spend time with Nebula who is still at this point in the film an enemy to the group, and who they’re holding captive.

Though she initially betrays Rocket and Baby Groot on Berhert, she steps in to stop Taserface killing Rocket and Yondu when they’re taken prisoner, saying that the High Priestess wants Rocket for herself, while Yondu has bounties on his head that she thinks they should capitalise on. She tells Kraglin that her plan for her share of the money is, after murdering her sister, to buy a warship to hunt her father. 

Ultimately, following their time together and after Nebula eventually makes up with Gamora and joins the Guardians’ side in the battle against Ego, they’ve laid the foundations for a closer friendship than most, and consequently her acceptance and integration into the team. By Avengers: Endgame, Rocket and Nebula are close enough to hold hands.

Making friends with Yondu

Yondu is another with whom Rocket builds a bridge, facilitating his acceptance by the team as the two work together to save Peter and the rest of the Guardians in GotG Vol. 2. The pair have a heart-to-heart about their pasts and find common ground that brings emotions to the surface, showcases their tender sides, and unlocks Yondu’s heart. It will prove critical in allowing Yondu to open up to Peter as they finally communicate and heal their strained father-son relationship.

Elsewhere, we also see glimpses of moving and effective couplings between Rocket and Bucky Barnes (more on this later), and War Machine. Rocket and Rhodey is the duo you never knew you needed. There’s a touching moment when they’re trapped together on the lower levels following Thanos’s destruction of the Avengers compound and it’s more evidence that Rocket can craft an effective double act with anyone.

More recently, in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, we witnessed the beginnings of a charming team-up with Cosmo the Spacedog. And then there’s a certain God of Thunder…

Thor’s rescue

If it wasn’t for the Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor would still be floating in space after the Asgardian decimation at the hands of Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War.

But it’s Rocket who (enthusiastically) agrees to go to Nidavellir with Thor when the God of Thunder mentions the place. Which leads them – Groot in tow – on a break-off side quest that allows them to bond and the Guardians to – in the end – trust this godly stranger. It also sets up Rocket for teaming with Thor again in Endgame on a very important mission.

Were it not for Rocket’s relationship with Thor, Odinson might never have been persuaded to rejoin the Avengers for the Time Heist, and that’s where everything would have fallen apart.

He’s resourceful

Not only is Rocket able to forge important relationships with people, but also he is very resourceful in most situations. He uses his size and nimbleness to his advantage, for example in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when attacking the Ravagers on Berhert.

However, when he needs something extra, he’ll use (a fully grown) Groot to boost his height as seen during Vol. 1’s prison escape, or a burly Bucky during the battle against Thanos’s troops in Wakanda in Infinity War. Remember when Bucky picks him up and they spin around while each fires their weapon? Nice move.

He sets the events of GotG Vol. 2 in motion

This at first might seem bogus, but ultimately it’s the best thing for everyone in terms of growth. Yeah, okay, so he steals batteries from the Sovereign, which causes the High Priestess to give chase. This in turn prompts Ego to step in and save the Guardians just as they’re under the cosh right before they crash land on the planet Berhert. Which brings Peter into a really traumatic engagement with his real father and leads to them all having to step in to save the universe.

But, in all this chaos, there are extremely valuable positives. Through the events of the film, Peter learns more about himself and undergoes a form of therapy in facing off against his birth father. Also, the Guardians are all brought closer together as a found family. Crucially, too, they all get some good practice at saving the universe, which will come in very handy later on when they have to confront some big purple guy. 

Oh, and actually, those batteries that Rocket stole? He repurposes them as explosives (they’re “exceptionally combustible”) for the detonator. This turns out to be critical to blowing up Ego and thwarting his dastardly Expansion plans for universal domination. Ego would still have caught up with Peter at some point – but in fact it’s Rocket’s actions that give them the tools they need to bring Ego down.

He’s super smart and a tech genius

Rocket knows so much stuff. Guaranteed he’s the one among the Guardians to know about a thing, whatever the thing is. He knows all about Nidavellir when Thor mentions it. Thor even says to the Guardians of Rocket that he’s “clearly the smartest among you.”

Without Rocket’s know-how when it comes to tech, the Guardians would be in a real pickle. We’ve seen his techy smarts in the trap he sets for the Ravagers who pursue them to Berhert in GotG Vol. 2. 

But most importantly, we’ve seen it in Endgame where Rocket is critical to helping Tony and Bruce build the time travel tech and the Nano Gauntlet. “You’re only a genius on Earth, pal,” Rocket even says to Tony Stark. He’s also integral to the process of getting Stormbreaker made on Nidavellir in Infinity War, and to extracting the Aether aka Reality Stone from Jane on Asgard. So there’s also that.

He’s worldly wise and had a way with words

“Everybody’s got dead people,” he says to Drax, who in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 is intent on jeopardising things to wreak his revenge on Ronan for murdering his family. “It’s no excuse to get everybody else dead along the way.”

Rocket has a knack of getting to the heart of the matter through his directness. More often than not, his approach works. He says something similar to Thor in Endgame when the duo goes back in time to Asgard to get the Aether. Rocket’s words can be presumed ultimately to stay with Thor, helping him along the path to healing from the guilt he feels following missing Thanos’s head the first time around, and the unprocessed grief from his mother’s death. 

Rocket’s intuition also pinpoints exactly what Thor needs to hear to get him to come help gather the Infinity Stones in Endgame – the first step being to get on the ship. It’s not enough that Hulk tells him “We need you, pal.” What Thor needs to hear in that moment is, “There’s beer on the ship.”

“What kind?” asks Thor, as he imagines wetting his whistle. Or, more, likely, getting s–faced.

If you need more evidence of Rocket’s ability to cajole, motivate, and manipulate, he deftly undermines Taserface in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, weakening Taserface’s leadership position in the eyes of the Ravager mutineers.

His obsession with eyes

Rocket likes to steal many things. One item that he has his eye on and that he actually finally gets as a gift during the Holiday Special (from Nebula) is Bucky’s arm. Which means that our favourite Winter Soldier could very well have a new arm when we see him next. 

But other (usually cybernetically enhanced) body parts Rocket also has his eye on include, erm, eyes. In Infinity War, his fondness for ocular acquisitions really pays off when he gives one – smuggled out of Contraxia secreted in a place where the sun don’t shine – to Thor to replace the eye he lost at the hands of his sister Hela. 

He’s the only OG Guardian not to get Snapped

If you need concrete evidence that Rocket is the Guardians’ MVP, this is it. The writers knew they had to keep Rocket around in order to execute the Time Heist, so he’s the only original Guardian not to dissolve in the Snap. (Nebula, of course, survives to lend her help too.) 

His technology, technical, and mechanics know-how are vital to pulling off the plan to Blip everybody back. 

Rocket is the one responsible for getting the Reality Stone, too, as we’ve already mentioned.

Thor couldn’t do it alone, and Rocket was the only one able to pull it off. Their relationship was crucial for allowing this to happen, and to kickstart Thor’s healing to make him a well and useful member of the team again. 

Without Rocket’s stern speech on Asgard, where would Thor be? With Rocket being so independent and useful, it meant Thor was free to reconcile with his mother and begin to heal. Without Rocket, there’s no Stormbreaker. Without Rocket able to just get on with the job in hand, there’s no freedom for Thor to explore his feelings here, and probably no re-acquisition of Mjölnir while they’re there. Meaning that Thor wouldn’t be fit for the fight to come, and Cap wouldn’t be able to use his trusty Hammer in the battle.

There’s no Guardian more deserving of the accolade ‘MVP.’

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is in cinemas now. You can read our review here, while for more on the movie, head to our dedicated GOTG page, or check out the below articles…

Best Easter Eggs | Pete Davidson cameo | Who dies? | Counter-Earth explained | Number of post-credits scenes | Avengers: Infinity War reference | Phyla-Vell explained | Is Yondu in GOTG 3? | Chris Pratt wants to return | Lylla, Teef and Floor explained | Does Rocket die? | Doctor Moreau influence | Adam Warlock, hero or villain? | High Evolutionary explained | Soundtrack details | Description of post-credit scenes | All actors and characters | Runtime explained | Why Rocket is the MVP | Is it streaming? | What is Blurp? | Ending explained | GOTG movies ranked | Will there be a Vol 4?