Exploring the Ethics of Animal Experimentation in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Every so often a film is released which compels viewers to question t
relationship they have with nonhuman animals and the objectificati
that society makes of them. A recent motion picture that has attempted
to rekindle the discussion regarding animal experimentation is James
Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Part of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, the film tells the story of a group of outcast heroes known as t
Guardians of the Galaxy as they try to save the universe. This third volume
focuses on the character of Rocket, a genetically modified raccoon. T
film exhibits a candid depiction of the cruelty that nonhuman anima
endure when exploited in vivisection and criticises the anthropocentrism
that underlies the act of experimenting on nonhuman animals through
Rocket’s past. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyse the portrayal of
Rocket and the consequences of having been tested on. I argue that the
film proposes an abolitionist stance towards the question of anim
testing, hence counteracting the more widespread utilitarian perspective.
Moreover, I explore how the notion of sentience plays a fundamental role
in the portrayal of the other than human beings that appear in the
narrative. In relation to this, the analysis will make use of the concept of
speciesism to study how characters from different species interact with
each other and who is portrayed as an individual sentient being deemed
worthy of being saved.