Rocket Raccoon's Problem with Flerkens, Explained

Rocket Raccoon is many things: he's the Guardians of the Galaxy's expert mechanic; he's a renowned mercenary; he's a friend and a hero. But he's also deathly afraid of Captain Marvel's cat. Though he's been in countless battles and fought many fierce foes, no one strikes fear into the heart of Rocket Raccoon quite like Chewbacca Sassy Danvers. 

Though they've gone through quite a bit together, there's still no love lost between Rocket and Chewie in INFINITY PAWS INFINITY COMIC (2024) #3 by Jason Loo and Nao Fuji. But how did these two furry frenemies meet? And what's Rocket's beef with Flerkens, anyway?

ROCKET & CHEWIE'S FIRST ENCOUNTER

As most True Believers know, Captain Marvel's beloved pet Chewie is actually a Flerken—a teleporting alien harboring a mouth full of lashing tentacles and a body containing a Multiverse of pocket dimensions. She's also the last of her kind. Although Carol first adopted Chewie in MS. MARVEL (2006) #5 by Brian Reed, Roberto De La Torre, Jimmy Palmiotti, Christopher Sotomayor, and Dave Sharpe, it would be years before she had reason to believe her pet was anything other than a cat. 

Enter Rocket Raccoon. In CAPTAIN MARVEL (2014) #2 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, David Lopez, Lee Loughridge, and VC's Joe Caramagna, Carol and Chewie met up with the Guardians on important hero business. Rocket got busy repairing some recent damage to Carol's ship, but when the Captain and Chewie approached him, he dropped everything and opened fire on the "cat." 

Rocket insisted that Chewie was a Flerken, a killing machine that must be stopped before she laid eggs. Based on his sheer panic, it's clear a Flerken or two had put Rocket through a serious horror show back in the day—although even now, Rocket still hasn't opened up about his Flerken-based trauma. But in that first meeting with Chewie, he was unable to prove she was an alien and his friends eventually convinced him to back off.

ROCKET & CHEWIE TEAM UP

Rocket dealt with Chewie again in CAPTAIN MARVEL (2014) #8 by Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marcio Takara, Lee Loughridge, and VC's Joe Caramagna, when Star-Lord asked him stay on Carol's ship while she helped with a refugee crisis on a nearby planet. Still wary of Chewie, he kept her caged in a crate within view—an offense for which the Captain was willing to dust him. But Rocket was completely vindicated when a hive-ship of goo aliens attacked Carol's vessel in search of Chewie, who had just laid a clutch of over one hundred Flerken eggs.

However, since the hive-ship only attacked because Rocket put out intergalactic notice that he had a Flerken in custody, he was forced into the awkward position of protecting her. The position became much less awkward when the hive revealed that Chewie, before she laid her eggs, was the last of her kind. Now feeling a kind of kinship with her, Rocket wholeheartedly defended Chewie from the attacking goo creatures… not that she really needed the help. 

With their backs to the wall, Chewie unleashed the full force of her Flerken tendrils, swallowing their attackers whole. While this should have terrified the Flerken-fearing Rocket, instead he finally gained some respect for her. After the battle, the Captain dropped off Chewie's Fler-kittens at a top-shelf rescue center, presumably with much less guff from Rocket Raccoon.

Rocket and Chewie reunite in INFINITY PAWS INFINITY COMIC #3, now available on Marvel Unlimited!

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