A decade ago, James Gunn’s unmade short film laid the groundwork for Rocket and Groot to head 5’s Guardians of the Galaxy team in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. During the timeframe of the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, Gunn was working on individual short films for its protagonists, with one focusing on Rocket and Groot. The director has since provided details on what this project would have entailed, had it seen the light of day.
Over the years, Rocket and Groot’s story has encompassed a handful of Marvel’s movies, with the characters even appearing in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Not only that, but their journeys have yet to wrap up. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s ending introduced a new version of the team, with Rocket and Groot being the only holdovers from the first movie’s lineup.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Rocket & Groot's Spinoff Movie Showed Why They Would Be In The New Guardians Team Rocket and Groot having a place on the new Guardians of the Galaxy team, whereas everyone else moved on to new chapters of their lives, makes sense in light of what Gunn revealed about their short film. According to James Gunn, it would have been about the two of them being trapped in an underground well.
In addition to the unexplored storytelling potential that comes with the characters, there’s also the matter of the short film’s central theme. Being wrongly imprisoned and abused was integral to both of their backstories . Considering that both characters shared these tragic pasts, it’s easy to understand why they would want to continue fighting as Guardians of the Galaxy, doing their part to rescue others from the cruel fates they were dealt.
Why Rocket & Groot's Guardians Spinoff Movie Was Never Made As for why this story was never told in-universe, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director has explained that there was an issue of time since the first film was going into production, and Gunn didn’t see the need for him to direct four short films plus a feature-length MCU movie all together. However, some of the footage for Rocket and Groot’s story was shot since it was further along than the others.