James Gunn just gave his first full-length interview post his firing and subsequent rehiring from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. While most of the interview was centred around Gunn dealing with the situation before he was reinstated as director, there was still one section where he talked about his attachment to the characters and his fear of being unable to finish their stories, something that worried him when he was removed from the franchise.

Now that he’s back, he can use his script to give some of the characters a fitting send-off. Rocket and Groot are among his favorites and Gunn promised to complete Rocket’s arc in a satisfying manner. We’ve learned bits and pieces about his cybernetic origin, and the pain of being broken apart and put back together “over and over and over”. With the vehicle back under his command now, Gunn will finally be able to execute his vision and hopefully, give us Rocket’s complete origin that we’ve been clamoring for.

When you asked me what was saddest for me when I thought it was gone—and anybody at Marvel can tell you—it’s this very strange and attached relationship to Rocket. Rocket is me, he really is, even if that sounds narcissistic. I relate to Rocket and I feel compassion for Rocket, but I also feel like his story has not been completed. He has an arc that started in the first movie, continued into the second and goes through Infinity War and Endgame, and then I was set to really finish that arc in Guardians 3. That was a big loss to me—not being able to finish that story—though I was comforted by the fact that they were still planning to use my script.

James Gunn on completing Rocket Raccoon’s arc in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Gunn’s scipt has been described as rather emotional, a tearjerker even. Here’s looking forward to the director wrapping up The Suicide Squad and returning to production on Guardians of the Galaxy soon.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is currently without a release date.