How does Rocket's origins fit in with the High Evolutionary's story in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? Theories explored

With the recent trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we got our first look at the High Evolutionary portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuji, and he looks menacing. Bringing in a character from the comics with such a huge history connected to heroes like Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and even Adam Warlock, is certainly going to have some ramifications.

Besides that, the trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has a heavy emphasis on Rocket as well, and it looks like the film will dive deep into his origins to show how he turned into the character we came to know and love.

The interesting part here is that Rocket's origins here might be tied up with the High Evolutionary. Here, we take a look at how both the stories might just be connected.

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How Rocket and the High Evolutionary's story may be connected in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

In the comics, the High Evolutionary goes by the name of Herbert Edgar Wyndham. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Thor #134 back in September 1966, and is a being concerned with the evolution of pretty much anything and everything.

In the 1920s, Herbert was very much inspired by the work of Nathaniel Essex, better known as Mr. Sinister. Wanting to unlock genetic codes, he began experimenting on rats. When approached by an unidentified Inhuman, he learned secrets regarding how to completely unlock the genetic code of a being, but his controversial research got him expelled from Oxford.

That's not where his story ends though, as he later joined the scientist Jonathan Drew on Wundagore, where they continued their research. When Jonathan's daughter, Jessica, would fell ill, he combined her DNA with a Spider serum, leading her to become the hero known as Spider-Woman.

Jonathan left soon after when his wife was killed by a Werewolf, and Herbert decided to craft himself a suit of armor and begin experimenting on animals by giving them humanoid forms. Here is where the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 theory comes into play.

In the trailer, we can see a hand reaching for what seems like a baby Rocket Raccoon, and perhaps that is the High Evolutionary. In the comics, Rocket's origins comes from a planet in the Keystone Quadrant that saw some humanoid aliens settle on it. They would try to treat and house the insane, but after their funding gets cut, they would create robots to take care of them.

When the robots would gain consciousness, they too would genetically engineer the animals that were left behind to give the patients company and take care of them. That was practically the birth of Rocket's species, yet it looks like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seems to change that up by tying it with the High Evolutionary's story.

We know Herbert loves to genetically engineer animals, and Rocket has previously hinted at how the experiments conducted on him made him into who he was. So, it is possible that the High Evolutionary might have been responsible for all of Rocket's pain and suffering, and the reason why our favorite Raccoon might have a bone to pick with him.

This does very much fit in with James Gunn's story, and would add an emotional edge to the film. Whatever it may be, we will surely get to know when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 releases in theaters on May 5, 2023.