Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Sean Gunn Explains the Challenges of Playing Young Rocket On-Set (Exclusive)

Since Rocket Raccoon was first introduced in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the character has been a full CGI model, built from the ground up for any Marvel Studios project he appeared in. While some films use mo-cap suits to capture the work of actors on-set to paste over with a CGI model, the visual effects vendors take it a step further and animate Rocket using little to no capture work. Instead, Sean Gunn has served as the on-set motion reference actor for the character, giving actors something to interact with.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 changes things up a bit as Gunn not only serves as the motion reference for the beloved character, but also the voiced the younger version of the character.

“Fortunately, a lot of the toughest Rocket scenes were the very first things we shot so the stuff with Lylla and the other friends from Rocket’s past, we did the motion reference for that stuff right away. Those are the first things and so kind of got through the hardest stuff first because that stuff is really emotional,” Gunn tells ComicBook.com.

He adds, “In this movie there’s one sequence where it’s actually my voice for Rocket, which hadn’t been done in the past. But there’s a sequence for when young Rocket is sort of asking about the sky to the High Evolutionary. That is actually my voice, which hadn’t been done in any of the previous movies. I mean, it’s just part of the gig like anything else. It’s like you and going back and figuring out who this guy is and where he came from and oh, it’s heart wrenching but it’s good.”

What is Guardians of the Galaxy 3 going to be about?

Marvel’s synopsis for the sequel can be found below.

“In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past,” the synopsis reads. “Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, and the rest of the Guardians franchise, is now available exclusively on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5th.

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