Thor calling Rocket Raccoon as ‘rabbit’ has become an inside joke for MCU fans, but is it really just an honest mistake, or is there something deeper in it? Fans from Reddit have postulated a theory.
When Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) teamed up in Avengers: Infinity War, everyone thought it was an unlikely but surprisingly interesting friendship. Thor, Rocket, and Groot (Vin Diesel) went to Nidavellir to forge the weapon that would destroy Thanos. After the Stormbreaker has been created, the trio were transported to Wakanda.
For the entire duration of Infinity War, Thor kept on referring to Rocket Raccoon as ‘rabbit’. The latter would repeatedly correct the God of Thunder and say he is not a rabbit. For the audience, this looked like a joke created for entertainment purposes. But, unbeknownst to us, there might be a more significant and historically true reason.
The Rocket Raccoon Theory
There is a theory postulated on Reddit which would explain the cause of Thor repeatedly calling Rocket Raccoon as ‘rabbit’. When Thor landed in New Mexico, it was assumed that it was not his first time on Earth. His Asgardian family existed in the seventh century in Norse mythology, so this meant they were only visiting Scandinavia, and not exploring the rest of the world.
Raccoon species like Rocket did not exist in European lands until the 1930s when the Asgardians no longer visited the Earth. This resulted in Thor’s unfamiliarity with raccoons, hence calling Rocket in the specie that is closer to its appearance – a rabbit.
There is another scene when Rocket Raccoon was being chased by Asgardian guards, and one of them called, “Get that rabbit!” Indeed, rabbits don’t exist in Asgard, but it provided proof that the specie is familiar to them.
Thor has demonstrated his lack of knowledge about Earth’s animal species since The Avengers (remember the flying monkeys joke?). There was also no hint of him encountering any raccoons when he stayed in Australia with Darryl Jacobson, his roommate. This can affirm the theory as a plausible idea on why Thor calls Rocket a rabbit, not a raccoon.
