Mumbai, Aug 3 (IANS): James Gunn, the director and writer of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3', has shared that he feels really close to the character of Rocket in the film.

In the new film, Rocket Raccoon's turbulent past catches up as the movie presents a visual and emotional roller coaster.

Sharing how Rocket takes centre stage in 'Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3', James Gunn said: "The central character, in a way, is Rocket, and Rocket’s the one I feel close to," he explains. "The first film is the story of the mother, the second film is the story of the father, and this film is the story of the self, so it's innately more intimate because of that."

Elaborating about the character of Rocket, he said: "This is a little animal who was taken and turned into something he shouldn't be and felt completely ostracised and alienated from every other life form in the galaxy and was angry because of that and angry because he's scared."

The film sees Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff reprising their roles along with Vin Diesel as Groot and Bradley Cooper as Rocket.

James further mentioned: "That loneliness is the centre of the 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. It's funny because people think of them as lighthearted movies and fun movies but everything that drives it is that emotional centre of Rocket and the other characters who are all outsiders, who don't feel as if they really belong. But the cracks start to open up a little bit between some of the characters, so they start to love each other."

The film also stars Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter and Maria Bakalova. James Gunn is the director and also wrote the screenplay. Kevin Feige produces with Louis D'Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Sara Smith, and Simon Hatt serving as executive producers.

Produced by Kevin Feige, the film is streaming in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam on Disney+ Hotstar.