'I'm Too Old': Marvel Star Says He's Officially Retired From His Beloved Guardians of the Galaxy Role as Rocket Raccoon

Marvel actor Sean Gunn has officially retired from his role playing Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers hero Rocket Raccoon.

After five films and one holiday TV special, Gunn has said he's now "too old" to provide the performance capture for the beloved Rocket (whose voice is then dubbed in post-production by Bradley Cooper).

Speaking to podcast host Brandon Davis, the Gilmore Girls legend said he had made the decision to depart his role as Rocket after recently turning 50, and noticing that the amount of crouching he'd had to perform for the part was beginning to have an effect on his "physiology."

On set, behind the scenes footage has featured Gunn scuttling around the legs of his Marvel co-stars while squatting down in what he describes as a "catcher's crouch" position. Thankfully, Gunn could also stretch his legs and stand up to also play Kraglin, the Ravager who ultimately ends the sci-fi saga as a fully paid-up Guardians member.

"Everyone thinks it's my knees but it's really my feet and my ankles," Gunn said, describing the physical difficulty he has faced after portraying Rocket Raccoon. "Because I'm in a catcher's crouch and I'm pivoting a lot on my points of contact with the ground... I'm doing a lot of pivoting in my ankles and feet. And over the years I think it had a little bit of an effect on my physiology.

"My knees are fine but since I turned 50 a couple of years ago I am retired from Rocket," he admitted. "Not that they've called but if they did, I don't think I could do the motion reference for Rocket anymore. I'm too old."

When might we see Rocket again? It's hard to say. Marvel is yet to confirm its future plans for the Guardians of the Galaxy, which remains a hugely popular team of characters, though one whose story has reached a natural conclusion. Gamora is off with the Ravagers, Drax and Nebula are looking after an array of children, while Mantis has also gone off to find her own path.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ends with a new team forming, featuring Rocket, Groot, and Kraglin joined by Adam Warlock, Cosmo the Space Dog, and Phyla. It's unclear if any of the above characters will ever return to the MCU, and it seems unlikely we'll get another Guardians of the Galaxy movie any time soon, with its writer and director James Gunn (yes, Sean Gunn's brother) now heading up the DCU. But Marvel has promised that Chris Pratt's Star-Lord will appear at some point (our best guess would be in Avengers: Secret Wars).

But even if Rocket Raccoon is invited back for the Multiverse Saga's big finale, it'll be someone else who squatted down to portray him instead.

Image credit: Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images.