Warning: Comprises SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3!Rocket and Lylla’s relationship is central to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s story, however the film retcons their established Marvel Cinematic Universe historical past to take action. The ultimate movie in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy centered on making Rocket the primary character by diving deeper into his previous and significance with the cosmic workforce. This included assembly the primary buddies he made throughout his time as a check topic for Excessive Evolutionary years earlier than he would meet the Guardians. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 launched Lylla the otter, Teefs the walrus, and Ground the rabbit to flesh out Rocket’s origin story, giving them main roles.
Whereas his friendships with the opposite members of Batch 89 are all necessary, the connection between Rocket and Lylla is the strongest within the film. The flashbacks present them turning into buddies and arguably even falling in love as they make plans to dwell freely outdoors their cages at some point. Gunn spends numerous time making audiences care about Lylla and Rocket’s relationship, which was a part of the setup for Lylla, Teefs, and Ground to die in Guardians of the Galaxy 3. The heartbreaking second in Rocket’s previous is completely obligatory for the story James Gunn needed to inform, nevertheless it retconned Lylla’s MCU historical past within the course of.
Lylla’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Demise Doesn’t Match GOTG1
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is likely to be the primary time that Lylla has bodily appeared within the MCU, however her existence within the universe was established within the first film. When Rocket, Groot, Star-Lord, and Gamora are arrested by the Nova Corps, Guardians of the Galaxy confirmed their mugshots. This included itemizing Lylla with Groot as a identified affiliate of Rocket. This Easter egg supplied some primary understanding of Lylla’s presence within the universe. The Nova Corps figuring out of her existence and itemizing her as a identified affiliate indicated that she is each alive and probably somebody who has labored with Rocket up to now.
Lylla dying is how Guardians of the Galaxy 3 retcons her historical past with Rocket. The truth that she died whereas being an experiment of Excessive Evolutionary signifies that Lylla wouldn’t be somebody of observe within the wider galaxy. Moreover, she solely began going by the title Lylla shortly earlier than her loss of life. Meaning there isn’t a actual motive why the Nova Corps to find out about her existence and title. The one potential clarification is that Rocket has informed tales of her all through the galaxy, however he by no means spoke about Lylla or his origin, making that clarification for Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s Lylla retcon additionally unlikely.
Why Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Had To Retcon Lylla’s Story
The truth that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 retcons Rocket and Lylla’s story just isn’t too stunning. James Gunn teased years in the past that he was occupied with altering a element from the mugshot sequence. It has now turn out to be clear that killing Lylla earlier than she may very well be identified by the Nova Corps is the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 retcon he was referencing. Though Gunn has fastidiously crafted his trilogy’s story and prevented main retcons or plot holes to ensure all the things is smart, the affect of Rocket and Lylla’s story proves that the change was price it.
With out killing Lylla, Rocket’s origin in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 must be fully totally different. Gunn would have needed to discover a option to clarify how she might nonetheless be alive however not be somebody Rocket has interacted with in any respect within the current. As a substitute of protecting her alive so she may very well be a part of Rocket’s life and the brand new workforce displayed in Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s post-credits, it was higher for the film to kill her and provides Rocket’s origin a tragic starting that helps outline who he would turn out to be. That’s the reason Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s Rocket and Lylla retcon needed to occur.