Guard The Galaxy contributor and #1 fan of Rocket Raccoon, Leo Wyld (Raccoonatic) asked Marvel's head of digital media, Agent M, whether Marvel had made a conscious decision to drop Rocket's Cockney accent altogether. In response, Agent M had the following to say:
"We cast Bradley Cooper for the role, so yeah!"
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| "Don't call me Cockney!" |
Rocket's accent in the Guardians of the Galaxy film has been speculated since the first announcement of the movie. Who would have thought that filming in London, England would make Rocket turn American?! Drop your comments below and let us know what you think of this change!
Thanks for posting this. There was a point where I would have been very happy about this, actually. Before he was added to the MH Beta in April, I was hoping he wouldn't have the accent. But, since I started playing Rocket in Marvel Heroes, I've grown attached to it. Really, though, the WTF video from today was entertaining, and I think the voice sounded a bit better than it did in USM. It makes me wonder if they will do Rocket's movie costume(s) on Marvel Heroes as *enhanced* costume(s) with Steve Blum not doing the Cockney accent (enhanced costumes in MH generally have different voice acting/line, etc)
ReplyDeleteYea, I have complete confidence in James Gunn. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have cast Bradley Cooper if his voice wasn't perfect for the role.
Deleteserious question: why do you have confidence in james gunn? he's never done anything significant or prestigious in his career. it is precisely that he hasn't accomplished anything noteworthy that i am greatly worried about the movie's success.
DeleteFirst off, I have more confidence in Marvel Studios than James Gunn. They have done a great job, in my opinion, of picking directors who can bring the creativity. That being said, after hearing James Gunn speak about the project, not to mention the awesome leaked footage, my confidence in him has grown tremendously. Also, everyone involved with the movie seems to think we are in for something special.
Deleteconfidence in Marvel Studios, the ones responsible for the theatrical abominations known as Daredevil, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider?
Deletethe last thing Gunn did was Movie 43, one of the worst movies made made even more egregious when considering the incredible star talent at his disposal. and the guy did a scooby doo movie. scooby frickin doo.
look, i really do want GotG succeed, but the future is looking pretty grim. the more news pours in, the more worried i become ):
First off Gunn only wrote and directed one of Movie 43's segments. Thats it. There were 16 different directors on that film so I'd hardly call him responsible for it. Also, have you seen Slither? That was a fantastic and highly entertaining genre film. I for one have total confidence in James Gunn.
Deletei have not seen slither. i find it very strange of all the directors to pick, marvel would choose the guy whose most popular work lies in the horror genre.
DeleteWell before Ironman Jon Favreau had only directed Elf and Zathura. Seems like an odd choice for Ironman no? It worked out fantastic in my opinion. I trust Marvel.
DeleteWhen I say Marvel Studios, I mean The Avengers and all of their solo movies. Fox made Daredevil and Sony made Ghost Rider. I've never seen Movie 43 but I've seen Slither and Super, which weren't necessarily great movies (mainly because I'm not a big fan of raunchy R-rated films) but I still thought they were well made and had some great moments. Overall, both of those movies did exactly what they set out to do. Guardians of the Galaxy may be terrible, but so far, the footage we've seen has been mouth-watering.
DeleteGunn didn't direct Scooby Doo; he co-wrote them as his break into Hollywood. Sometimes you gotta pay your dues to make it into that industry. He's also talked in the past about how his initial drafts were more tongue-in-cheek, adult-oriented, PG-13 deconstructions of the Scooby Doo formula, before the studio changed their mind and made it family friendly. Apparently along the lines of the Brady Bunch Movie, it basically took things fans always about the show (Velma's a lesbian, they're all smoking weed) and made it canon.
DeleteTo be honest it doesn't really bother me that they're dropping it. He's a Raccoon and they aren't creatures that are native to the UK, so the accent just made little sense. It was almost like saying "My favourite colour is nine!"
ReplyDeleteBut of course, if you want to use the same logic that I am, you could say that a walking, talking Raccoon with a bad attitude and a love of ridiculously large weapons working as a mercenary out on the edges of the galaxy makes even less sense than that lol. In hindsight, sense is probably something that I shouldn't rely on when making my point where concerning talking animals.
I think it's just all relative, really. For me, when I first started reading the comics way back when, it was Danny DeVito's voice that my brain kind of attached to the character in order to give him life and personality, and I've kind of stuck with that ever since. So maybe that's why I don't think them dropping the Cockney accent is all that big a deal, but that's just me. I do understand that it was a very large part of the character and his personality for a lot of other people, so I can see where you're coming from.
Yea, that's the thing about comics, everyone hears the voices differently in their heads. I don't know how they came up with the Cockney accent. I think it's probably from Rocket's first appearance which gave him a British dialect.
DeleteI was a little surprised that Marvel wasn't going with the Cockney accent, just because they had used it in a few different medians. However, I think I'm okay with him having an American accent, especially if it's Bradley Cooper's voice. After Silver Linings Playbook, I am a fan of his acting.
I think I can definitely get used to it. If that is the new canon for the character, I'll support it. Of course, now I gonna have to pester Gazillion to have Steve Blum re-record all his lines for Marvel Heroes. Heh.
DeleteThe reason he's often been written with a British accent is because he was named after a Beatles song.
DeleteYep. White Album. Have the song on my MP3 player. The name of his former mate Lylla, his love of guns, and the Gideon's/Halfworld Bible all were clearly inspired by said song. And, while I liked the Cockney accent, it would be curious to connect it to the Beatles, since they were famously from Liverpool which, even to my American ears, is a very different accent. Also, the *character* of Rocky Raccoon in the song, which inspired the character of Rocket Raccoon, is a resident of South Dakota (well, the Black mining hills of Dakota, close enough)
DeleteIn a conversation I just had, Agent M seemed hesitant to confirm whether or not Rocket is still a genetically enhanced raccoon. He said it was because he did not want to reveal any upcoming info, but that does not seem to bode well, in my opinion.
ReplyDeletesorry, meant to reply to you but ended up making a new post below
Delete"There’s no one else in the universe quite like him, he’s been created by these guys to be a mean-ass fighting machine." http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/guardians-of-the-galaxy-rumours/
ReplyDeleteso apparently RR is now some animal cyborg created for the sole purpose of killing. is this still rocket we're talking about?
it's pretty damn clear that the people want rocket to retain his accent. get your shit together, marvel
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/QdDKJMX.png
I haven't played those games that were mentioned, and when I read the comics his voice never sounded like that to me. So this idea that he should have had an accent doesn't really make sense to me. I guess if I had played those games I might feel similarly to some other folks here, but for me Bradley Cooper seems like a good fit for the voice as I have read it as I read the comics.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/HulkstaTheatre/news/?a=88207
ReplyDeleteNobody from the younger generations cares about ambiguous references to the Beatles. Bradley Cooper's voice acting as Rocket was great! Gimmicks from the 60's/70's can be left for the comics of that era or for games and animations where nobody really cares.. Audiences want something more plausible and a British accent would of sounded stupid coming out of the mouth of an animal that's never lived in Britain (Real Racoons I mean). Yes, Rocket doesn't make much sense already but to use that as an excuse to make even less sense is a slippery slope. Voice sounded awesome, should continue on this path for all mediums from now on. Leave the gimmicks in the past where they belong!
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