Yahoo Movies Guardians of the Galaxy 3 theory suggests Rocket is actually a mutant
Ever since Disney and Fox merged back in 2019, there have been numerous theories about how Marvel will integrate the X-Men into the MCU.
Could Ant-Man's Janet have the latent X-gene, and has her time in the quantum realm activated her mutant powers? Or could an Infinity Stone's energy kick start the X-gene?
Both of those were just theories, and it turned out that the first real appearance of a mutant in the MCU was Patrick Stewart's Professor Xavier popping up in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – followed by a reveal just a couple of months later in the Ms Marvel first season finale that Ms Marvel herself, Kamala Khan, could actually be a mutant.
While that was great news for fans desperately waiting for the day when Wolverine kicks ass alongside an Avenger (we can see sensitive musclemen Wolverine and Thor hitting it off), we're not really any closer to a full crossover between the two franchises.
Or are we? A new fan theory on Reddit suggests that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 could have stealthily introduced a mutant to the MCU under our noses, who has the potential to become a major player in the MCU/X-Men universe.
Reddit user BlindEditor suggests that – hold on to your laser cannons – Rocket Raccoon is a mutant.
They argue that: "If Deadpool is becoming canon or canon-ish, we know that torture can activate an X gene. High Evolutionary visits Earth and without knowing it, picks up a raccoon with the X-Gene.
"He does his horrific experiments and through them Rocket's gene is activated, giving him super intelligence way beyond what the High Evolutionary was attempting with the other 89 series experiments."
It's a clever idea, especially when you consider that none of the other animals that the High Evolutionary experimented on are as intelligent as Rocket, and as BlindEditor goes on to add, "with the MCU making Ms Marvel a mutant, they're not afraid of changing comic lore to make it a softer landing for explaining where mutants have been this whole time".
However, the Rocket-is-a-mutant theory would undermine part of what makes the High Evolutionary such an effective Marvel villain – as well as being utterly irredeemable, he is also obsessed with creating a perfect creature, and is frustrated by not knowing how Rocket has become so intelligent.
If he had discovered it was due to a mutant gene – something he could presumably recreate – it would take away the mystery that frustrates him, as well as Rocket's unknown power over his ultimately futile experiments.
And there is another good reason why this theory is unlikely to be true – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 writer/director James Gunn himself.
At the press conference for the movie, which Digital Spy attended, both Gunn and MCU boss Kevin Feige made it very clear that Gunn was completely in charge of the Guardians, and had no instructions to interweave stories that could impact the future of the MCU or, indeed, a potential MCU/X-Men crossover.
Asked how much slack he was given in terms of the Guardians characters' futures, Feige commented: "I think he gets all the slack. Yeah, he gets as much slack as there is to give."
It's going to be quite a while – if it ever happens – before we revisit Rocket and his team in a potential Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 4 which makes it even more implausible that Rocket would be the tool used to fully merge the X-Men into the MCU.
It is more likely that if an X-Men crossover were to happen sooner rather than later, it would be in one of Marvel's Phase Five projects, or likelier still, during Phase Six (which includes Deadpool 3).
We'll just have to wait and see...
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 is in cinemas now.
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