Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has delved into the past story of Rocket Raccoon, revealing the ambitions, plots and terrible experiments of the villain High Evolutionary. This movie also reveals Rocket’s first “family”, before the character became a member of the Guardians.
These are the friends he made while being held captive on the High Evolutionary’s ship, including Teefs the walrus, the Floor rabbit and especially the otter Lylla. It was Lylla, voiced by Linda Cardellini, who played a huge part in propelling Rocket’s growth and providing particularly emotional moments for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Decoding Lylla’s identity in Marvel comics
Lylla is a character with a close relationship with Rocket Raccoon in the original – Photo: Internet.
Lylla the Otter (Lylla the Otter) first appeared in the story chapter The Incredible Hulk #271. This is also the second time Rocket has appeared on the pages of Marvel. Lylla is a resident of Halfworld, home to many artificial animals, creatures that turn themselves into humans – the result of brutal genetic engineering experiments. Lylla’s parents own Mayhem Mekaniks, the largest toy manufacturing company in Halfworld, making her the heir to a huge fortune. However, things quickly changed 180 degrees when her parents were murdered by business rival Judson Jakes.
After Jake took control of the Mayhem Mekaniks, he continued to be caught up in a power struggle with Lord Dyvyne, who also wanted to own this giant toy company. As Jake’s prisoner, Lylla is forced to help him in this war. That’s when she met and got to know Rocket Raccoon. Responsible for protecting Halfworld, Rocket and Lylla together defeated both Jake and Dyvyne. The two even fell in love and decided to leave their home planet to start their own adventures.
Decoding the power of Lylla
Compared to the movie version, Lylla in the original possesses quite an impressive ability – Photo: Internet.
As the child of the planet Halfworld, Lylla has undergone a lot of genetic improvement in the past. Also a anthropomorphized mammal like Rocket, Lylla possesses intelligence far beyond her otters. In addition, she is also trained to be able to fight hand-to-hand and use a variety of guns when needed, along with the self-defense ability of a true warrior.
The daughter of a successful business couple, Lylla is very knowledgeable and exceptionally quick. In addition, because of her background as an otter, she is also an excellent swimmer, whether in the comics or on the big screen, Lylla has not had many opportunities to show this ability.
Changes when Marvel Studios brought Lylla to the big screen
Lylla’s story has been changed quite a bit in the Marvel cinematic universe – Photo: Internet.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brought the origin story of Rocket Raccoon, and also officially brought Lylla to the silver screen with a lot of big changes. In the movie version, the otter is also one of the High Evolutionary’s experiments to create a race of intelligent animals similar to humans and form the planet Counter-Earth, a copy of Earth. However, Lylla, as well as the organisms in Experiment 89, were considered failed products and had to be destroyed.
Lylla, along with Teefs the walrus and Floor rabbit, are Rocket’s cellmates, and the only childhood friends of the Guardians member. No one knows where Lylla came from, where she came from, which means that the storyline related to the planet Halfworld and the Mayhem Mekaniks toy company has been completely eliminated. Besides, although she also speaks and has a certain intelligence, it seems that Lylla does not possess any superpowers, and the level of intelligence is not as prominent as in the original. This is also the reason why Lylla is not used by High Evolutionary like Rocket.
The relationship between Lylla and Rocket is also not shown too clearly. The developments in the film show that these two characters seem to be “above friendship, below love”, but Marvel Studios never really confirmed this. And with Lylla gone before Rocket joins the Guardians, perhaps that’s not so important anymore and won’t be explored further in the future.
Lylla is the “grain” of the Guardians of the Galaxy series?
Lylla’s appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brought a small contradiction in terms of the plot of the series about the Guardians – Photo: Internet.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 marks the first time Lylla has officially stepped onto the big screen. However, this character was already mentioned in the first movie, through a very small detail that most viewers will ignore. It was the scene where Rocket, Groot, Star-Lord and Gamora were captured by Nova Corps and had to take portraits to save in the criminal record.
In it, Rocket’s personal information section mentions that this character has a close relationship with Groot and Lylla – officially confirming the otter exists in the MCU. And somehow, the Nova Corps knows about this, despite Lylla being murdered by the High Evolutionary many years ago – as shown in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Moreover, the relationship between Rocket and Lylla in the MCU takes place in a rather narrow range, limited to only two cramped cells on the High Evolutionary’s ship. All the memories and experiences that they have for each other are secret secrets that Rocket does not want and has never shared with anyone. Even the name Lylla appeared briefly before the otter was killed. And one thing is for sure, the two can’t go through any adventures in outer space together. However, the Nova Corps knew very well about the relationship between Rocket and Lylla.
Lylla was mentioned in the first Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 – Photo: Internet.
This inadvertently turned the otter into a small “grain” in the MCU. This is perhaps the sacrifice needed so that director James Gunn can deliver a more touching and complete story about Rocket’s past. Gunn even shared that he considered editing the crime scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1. And now, we know exactly what detail the male director is referring to. Perhaps James Gunn had carefully calculated the common script of all three movies from the beginning, but for some reason, he still missed an unfortunate “grain” named Lylla.
If Lylla is still alive, the origin story of Rocket in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will probably turn in a very different direction. James Gunn will have to explain Lylla’s journey after escaping the clutches of the High Evolutionary, and also explain why this character and Rocket have not contacted each other for many years. That will probably make the script of this movie more complicated and confusing. In addition, Lylla’s death is also the necessary catalyst to help shape Rocket’s personality and turn the raccoon into the superhero he is today.
Source: ScreenRant
