The MCU Has Just Made 1 Dark Fan Theory Even More Likely

Summary

I Am Groot season 2 confirms a major fan theory about Rocket Raccoon's past, suggesting his strange behavior is tied to his tragic childhood friendships.
Rocket's tendency to collect prosthetic limbs is given deeper meaning in I Am Groot, ing the idea that these are seen as mementos of his deceased friends.
The discovery of a human-shaped nose in a box of prosthetic limbs further s the theory that Rocket's obsession with collecting these items is tied to his emotional connection to his fallen companions.

Marvel Studios' I Am Groot Easter eggs call back to the titular team's prior adventures in the MCU, with one episode in particular featuring details that may confirm one dark fan theory.

Vin Diesel returned to voice Groot in I Am Groot, while Bradley Cooper also lent his voice once again to Rocket Raccoon. Rocket and Groot were introduced in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy as traveling companions and close friends who would go on to become founding of the Guardians of the Galaxy team. While Rocket and Groot's origins were confirmed by James Gunn, these events haven't been seen on screen, though Rocket's life prior to meeting Groot was explored in 2023's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The investigation of Rocket's backstory ignited a major theory, that may have now been confirmed by I Am Groot.

Theory: Rocket Collects Body Parts Because Of His Traumatic Past

Rocket and his friends in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Throughout the Guardians of the Galaxy film series, Rocket has displayed a tendency to steal prosthetic limbs and body parts for his own hilarious pleasure. While this was previously thought to be nothing more than a light form of sadism on Rocket's part, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's flashbacks provided more context to why Rocket might have a desire to take these body parts. The film's flashbacks explored Rocket's childhood undergoing experimentation by the High Evolutionary, and his blossoming friendships with other subjects, Lylla, Teefs, and Floor. While Rocket himself wasn't enhanced with prosthetics, his friends were, lending itself to this tragic theory.

Although Rocket had planned to escape from the High Evolutionary's laboratory with his friends in tow, he didn't get the chance to escape the villain's clutches until after his friends had been killed. There's no doubt that Rocket went forward with the memory of his early friendships, and was impacted greatly by them, so their presence in his life would have certainly led to some of his strange behaviors. Many have attributed Rocket's penchant for stealing prosthetic limbs to the fact that his early friends had all been enhanced with prostheses, and this seems to have been made even more believable after the release of I Am Groot season 2.

I Am Groot Makes Rocket's Weird Obsession Even Deeper

Groot with a nose and a box of prosthetic limbs in I Am Groot

I Am Groot season 2, episode 2, "Groot Noses Around," saw the titular Guardian of the Galaxy find a human-shaped nose that gifts him a sense of smell for the first time in his life. This nose was found in a box of loose prosthetic limbs that refer to previous Guardians of the Galaxy films. This includes the leg that Peter Quill acquires in Guardians of the Galaxy, an eyeball from Vol. 2, and a metallic arm. The fact that Rocket has kept these prostheses suggests he didn't only take them for prank value, and that I Am Groot may have confirmed Rocket stores them in memory of his fallen friends.