Following speculation last week, Marvel has officially confirmed that Oscar-nominee Bradley Cooper will voice Rocket Raccoon in the upcoming James Gunn film Guardians of the Galaxy. This now gives us a complete cast listing for all of the main heroes in the film.
In a separate interview with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige in Empire indicates some of this Rocket Raccoon’s origin story: “Rocket has been genetically and mechanically altered, he’s an experiment from one part of the galaxy”.
First introduced in 1976’s Marvel Preview #7, Rocket Racoon is a anthropomorphic creature from a planet that just happens to have inhabitants that look like Earth’s woodland creatures. He also has a fetish for incredibly large weapons. Rocket has been traditionally voiced in video games and earlier cartoons as having a broad accent from London’s East End, voiced in those cases by Greg Ellis. However, more recent appearances in Ultimate Spider-man have seen him played by American voice actor Billy West (best known for playing Fry on Futurama).
Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy #24 (2010)
The film also stars Glenn Close as Nova Prime, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Djimon Hounsu as Korath, Lee Pace as Ronan, Karren Gillan as Nebula, Beneicio Del Toro as the Collector, Dave Bautista as Drax, Zoe Saldana as Gamora and Chris Pratt as Star-Lord. Vin Diesel has all but confirmed his presence as the talking tree Groot in recent interviews.
Guardians of the Galaxy is released on 1 August 2014 from Marvel Studios via Disney.
