Rachel at Hamlette's Soliloquy and Jim at The Midnite Drive-In are currently hosting a blogathon celebrating favourite movie/TV onscreen critters who are pets, friends or companions to us humans.
Today's post concerns ROCKET RACCOON of the MCU's Guardians of the Galaxy superheroes franchise. Starship captain, enhanced warrior and blackmarket purveyor of stolen goods, Rocket Raccoon travels the galaxy with his compatriots, fighting on the side of Truth and Justice. Well, mostly.
In a scenario that is not as unlikely as one might think, Rocket Raccoon is also an ally of Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier, fighting by his side (literally) during the Battle of Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War (2018).
The similarities between Rocket Raccoon and the Winter Soldier are not hard to see -- they are both implacable fighters with lots of fur/hair and black raccoon mask/warpaint around their eyes. Each of them adores big weaponry and they tend to be equally armed to the teeth. Plus, the Winter Soldier has a prosthetic cyberarm and Rocket would dearly love to have it for his blackmarket side hustle.
And of course eventually he does, in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).
But the connection between Rocket Raccoon and the Winter Soldier goes much, much deeper than that. Each has a tragic and incredibly dark backstory with many parallels. Scarred in body and soul, they were both made into what they are against their will and without their consent. Experimented on, surgically altered, genetically engineered, tortured, created simply to be controlled and used. (Their respective horror stories are told in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014).
I tend to see the Guardians of the Galaxy characters as kind of a satirical, almost goofy, spin on the more serious, straight-laced Avengers. Yet there's nothing satirical or goofy about the abused antiheroes at their centre. Rocket Raccoon and the Winter Soldier essentially embody the same tragic trope about the evils of science without morality and the denial of free will. Despite being different species, Rocket Raccoon and the Winter Soldier are true brothers.
17 comments:
Interesting. I’ve seen one Guardians of the Galaxy. I’ll take a closer look.
I have never seen a Guardians movie so all this is lost on me ... but what does a racoon do with a man's arm?
Excellent visual effects. If a racoon could cry, that's what it would look like.
Your posts always enlighten me! I had no idea this existed. LOL!
I feel like I’ve been living under a rock.
Wow! That's pretty moving.
I teared up during "Guardians 3" over what Rocket and his friends (horrifically abused experimental creatures who still had hearts full of hope) went through. I also tear up when I see Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, but for a VERY different reason!! Just sayin'!! 😘
Hello Debra, I vaguely remember superheroes as Superman or Batman having some setback but then clobbering the villains. It seems these stories have grown unbelievably complicated. Also, I thought Rocket was a squirrel.
--Jim
@ Parnassus (Jim) -- Oh yes, superhero stories (both in movies and comics) are much more sophisticated and adult-oriented these days. They are often commentaries on the issues and problems of our times. Still lots of clobbering of villains going on, though.
I still don't understand that animal. Back in the day I used to grow a tomato patch. This one raccoon would come and pick the tomatoes and put them in a little pile. I would find the leftovers when I came to see what is happening. I know it was a raccoon because it left footprints. Mapache is another name for that animal. I think I will light a candle for all raccoons on All Souls Day.
I know not of Rocket Raccoon. I read the Wikipedia article and he's EVERYWHERE!!! I can't believe I've not seen him, on some show! I'm not much into comics anymore so I'm not surprised I didn't know about him in that medium.
You ran a fun and humours sequence. I love the movie.
I’ve not seen the Christmas special. But I have seen the guardians movies.
I’ll have to add both those movies to my list.
It’s not wonder no one believed all the Covid experts. We have been taught all our lives that disasters
Always start with an evil scientist
I've seen the first Guardians but not the next two and I've been putting off Winter Soldier but now I'm going to have to watch them.
Not being much of a movie-goer, I've missed out on Rocket and the Winter Soldier. Their backstories are tragic! May they find peace in the Summerlands when their time comes...
That poor boy suffered in the third movie
I don't know why these super hero movies don't appeal to me. However, stick a dinosaur in there and I'd probably be hootin' and holler'.
Post a Comment