The following contains spoilers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special now streaming on Disney+.
Unsurprisingly, the full-CGI characters like Rocket and Groot are used sparingly in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Yet, when Nebula gives Rocket his gift, Bucky’s arm, it pays off Avengers: Infinity War’s best joke and sets up heartbreak for the final film. The Holiday Special is a laughs-first affair, something that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 won’t be. So, it makes sense for, at least, Rocket and Nebula to take a backseat in this story.
They didn’t get snapped by Thanos, so viewers spent a lot of time with them during Avengers: Endgame. However, this gift reminds fans that this means that Rocket and Nebula spent five years together without the others. The way their dynamic persists through the next film will be interesting to see. But there is one way to look at this gift beyond just paying off Rocket telling Bucky, “I’m gonna get that arm.” The look on Rocket’s face betrays more than just being touched by the thought. In fact, it could set up how Rocket’s story is going to come to a close in what will surely be an emotionally heavy way.
Guardians 3 and the Holiday Special Almost Didn’t Happen
At one point, James Gunn found himself out at Marvel Studios. However, he came back with unfinished business. “The reason why I needed to finish this is because I love the character of Rocket more than any character I’ve ever dealt with before, and I needed to finish his story and that is what Volume 3 is about,” Gunn said in an interview. And the introduction of the High Evolutionary is a clear sign that Guardians 3 is about Rocket’s origin story.
A baby raccoon appears in the movie, and Quill tells someone that Rocket won’t “talk about it,” according to details from the SDCC-only Vol. 3 trailer. Rocket was created, and early in the first movie, viewers see that he has his own cybernetic parts. Rocket’s favorite prank of stealing prosthetics could be him being cruel, that’s a bit shallow for Gunn’s favorite character. Perhaps his fixation on robot prosthetics is based out of the fear that if his own were removed, he’d be just some silly old raccoon. That might be why he freaks out when Kevin Bacon calls him a “talking raccoon” in the special.
Of course, Rocket wasn’t the only Guardian to react strongly to that comment. Nebula draws her blaster and points it right at him. That part of her abuse at her father’s hands was being needlessly “upgraded” with cybernetics might have come up during their five years together. Nebula knows what she’s giving Rocket, and it’s not just a cool vibranium arm.
Rocket and Nebula Share Similar Trauma – and Her Christmas Gift Is No Joke
The Gamora from circa 2014 wasn’t the only one to travel back in time. Nebula’s past self was why Thanos made it to the future. Not only that, present Nebula was treated to one more round of abuse from her twisted father. Rocket and Nebula aren’t sharers, yet after five years in space together, they probably can have entire conversations without saying a word. Rocket’s assertion to Bucky about getting his arm was a needed joke in a heavy movie, but both characters’ progression since gave it more depth. Rocket and Groot have a special relationship, but Nebula may be his closest friend.
The arm Nebula gave Rocket looked like a vibranium one. That means that this is likely a custom job. Perhaps it is the arm Bucky had in Infinity War, and he got an upgrade down the line. Since that character processed some of his past trauma in that series, Nebula could have just taken it, but she probably just talked to him. Though, Bucky’s not much for talking out his feelings, either. Still, gifting the arm could be a subtle message to Rocket. Just as Bucky’s “Winter Soldier arm,” which did horrible things, was a part of him, it wasn’t the most important part.
It’s okay to laugh when Nebula first gives Rocket the arm in the Holiday Special. Yet, the Christmas gift from these two close compatriots is not a joke. It’s an unspoken reminder that Rocket has a future. But fans will have to wait until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to find out how long that future will be.
To see Nebula fulfill Rocket’s dream, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is currently streaming on Disney+.
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