Move over, Baby Groot and Baby Yoda. Marvel Studios brought the first footage from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, revealing a look at Baby Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper). The teaser trailer, which was not released online, briefly shows a flashback to Rocket's origin story as "Do You Realize?" by The Flaming Lips plays. Writer and director James Gunn presented the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer, bringing the first looks at the all-gold Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), a young adult Groot (Vin Diesel), and Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) return as a Ravager.
The returning Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 filmmaker revealed Vol. 3 would flesh out the origin story of Rocket, an illegal genetic and cybernetic experiment who said in the first film he was "torn apart and put back together, over and over," turning him into "some little monster." Rocket could be the creation of the High Evolutionary, who will make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut as played by Chukwudu Iwuji.
Gunn again confirmed that Vol. 3 would be the end of this team of Guardians, telling the audience at Hall H, "This is the end of that story. I'm sorry. Some stories have an end. It doesn't mean everybody dies."
But last year, Gunn hinted some characters might die to close out his trilogy. Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder, the returning Guardians crew includes Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Groot, and Rocket.
In a 2019 interview with Deadline, Gunn said he had a "very strange and attached relationship to Rocket," saying of the character: "Rocket is me, he really is, even if that sounds narcissistic."
"Groot is like my dog. I love Groot in a completely different way. I relate to Rocket and I feel compassion for Rocket, but I also feel like his story has not been completed," Gunn said at the time. "He has an arc that started in the first movie, continued into the second and goes through [Avengers] Infinity War and Endgame." Gunn added that arc will reach its conclusion in Vol. 3.
Marvel Studios will release Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in theaters on May 5, 2023. See what fans are saying about Baby Rocket below, and follow ComicBook for more live San Diego Comic-Con 2022 updates as they happen.