In recent years, Marvel has proactively taken bigger steps to adapt its various IPs into quality blockbuster level games; not just the lackluster mobile games they've been known for. Some of these projects blossom into critical hits like Insomniac Games' Spider-Man, while others devolve into disappointing messes like Square Enix's Avengers. Another one of its recent games, and one of the best from a critical standpoint, is Guardians of the Galaxy.
The announcement for the game came out of left field last year. As surprising as the reveal itself was, even more shocking was how quickly it was released afterward. Many projects get announced years before they ever see the light of day, but in this case, it was only months.
The game saw Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot trying to take down the Universal Church of Truth, which had begun successfully brainwashing a good majority of the galaxy. The story included many surprises and put lots of effort into making players care about these new adaptations of the Guardians.
From character interactions to tragic explorations of their various origin stories—there was a lot of strong foundation for this new motley crew. Now it's been revealed that players could have witnessed even more intricate backstories. In this case, it would have been about Rocket Raccoon's beginnings on the planet of Halfworld.
Players Nearly Got to Explore Rocket's Origin
In an interview with The Gamer about the beloved recent game Guardians of the Galaxy, the project's Senior Narrative Director Mary DeMarle revealed some story content that sadly had to hit the cutting room floor.
DeMarle revealed that one of the plot lines the team was going to include was a trip "to Halfword... to explore Rocket's background:"
"When we were originally conceiving of the game and the story, we had great ambitions. Sometimes we think we're being tight and concise and later on as we get into production, we'd realize that we can't do that. So one of the things was that you were going to go to Halfworld and you were going to explore Rocket's background."
She elaborated, teasing their "interesting concept for... Halfworld," but then revealed that including the storyline would have "[made] the story go in a different direction and [cause it to be] bloated:"
"We had an interesting concept for what Halfworld would be and what we were going to do, but then ultimately as we got into production, we realized that including Halfword was making the story go in a different direction and making it bloated. It was pushing things and it wasn't enabling us to focus on the heart of what we needed, so Halfworld ended up being cut relatively early in production."
Maybe in the Guardians of the Galaxy Sequel?
Many fans of the game might remember how there were plenty of signs that Rocket's origin story was definitely something the developers thought of. One of the biggest instances was the exchanges between him and the other Guardians about why he was so afraid of water.
On top of that, there was also an unlockable "Hero of Halfworld" outfit and several collectibles that gave glimpses into his life on Halfworld. It's sad to hear how they once planned for a lot more, but it's hard to disagree about how it wouldn't have fit very organically with what the story ended up being.
Not all hope is lost, however. While a sequel to the critically acclaimed game is up in the air, the upcoming James Gunn-directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is rumored to explore those same ideas, but in the MCU.
Whispers not only indicate that a chunk of the story will revolve around his origin at Halfworld, but that the villainous High Evolutionary will be the main antagonist of the feature—played by Peacemaker's Chukwudi Iwuji no less.
Guardians of the Galaxy is now available to buy wherever games are sold, and Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.
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