Goodbye, Rocket

Oreo the raccoon (left), the real-life model for Guardians of the Galaxy character Rocket, has died Thursday aged 10, after a short illness. 

The news was announced on the comic book superhero team's Facebook page. 

"You have been an amazing ambassador for raccoons everywhere", it reads. "You were perfect". 

Oreo accompanied the film's director, James Gunn to the Guardians of the Galaxy premiere.

Writer and director James Gunn attends the "Guardians of the Galaxy" premiere in Leicester Square, London in the UK on July, 24, 2014. Image credit: Jon Furniss, Invision

The character Rocket first appeared in a 1976 Marvel comic book, and was named after The Beatles song Rocky Raccoon. 

Actor Sean Gunn – brother of James – provided the motion capture performance for the character, while Rocket's physical characteristics in the films are based on Oreo's. And Rocket was voiced by A Star is Born’s Bradley Cooper in the 2014 film and its 2017 sequel. 

Watch Rocket here:

Tributes poured in for the raccoon on social media.

BTW, Oreo will live through Rocket one more time when “Avengers: Endgame” hits theaters on April 26, 2019.