Cosmo the Spacedog won’t be new to the MCU for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but the psychic dog will have a much more pronounced role in the sequel than in previous cameos, voiced by Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova.
Yes, in the comics, Cosmo is a male dog. But in Guardians 3, Cosmo will be portrayed as female, partly in honor of Laika, the first dog in space (as director James Gunn confirmed on Twitter).
Along with our real-world history lesson, what’s the comic book story of Cosmo, the psychic dog who often hung out with the Guardians of the Galaxy?
Get ready with your treats and belly scratches as we explore the comic book history of Cosmo, Marvel Comics’ cosmic hound.
Who is Cosmo the Space Dog?
Cosmo the Spacedog is a real space dog!
Just like in the real world, the Marvel Universe saw a decades-long Cold War between the United States and the USSR, with the so-called “Space Race” of the 1960s marking the peak of the conflict. And just like in the real “space race”, the USSR experimented with sending dogs into orbit (although Cosmo didn’t appear in the comics until 2007 News #8 (opens in a new tab)).
In the Marvel Universe, one such dog, aptly named Cosmo, ended up floating through space and being bombarded by cosmic rays – just like those who gave power to the Fantastic Four, whose own origins of comics are found in the myth of the space race.
The cosmic rays increased Cosmo’s intellect and gave him psychic abilities. As a result, Cosmo became an interstellar traveler, eventually heading to the cosmic location known as Knowhere, a community inside the head of a dead Celestial.
Knowhere is, of course, the same location seen in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, where Cosmo makes an appearance as part of the Collector’s Menagerie.
In the comics, Cosmo eventually becomes Knowhere’s head of security, and it’s in this capacity that he meets the cosmic superhero Nova (who would have been the subject of his own Marvel Studios movie or streaming series. ) while fleeing from a necromantic. villain named Abyss, beginning Cosmo’s association with Marvel’s cosmic heroes.
Cosmo in the Marvel Universe
Cosmo then found himself embroiled in the conflict of Annihilation: Conquest (opens in a new tab)in which the evil AI Ultron conquered the techno-organic alien race known as the Phalanx and attempted to use their cybernetic blight to take over the entire Marvel Universe.
As a result of Annihilation: Conquest, a new Guardians of the Galaxy has come together, consisting of Adam Warlock, Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot – in other words, the incarnation that has been primarily adapted to the MCU.
Cosmo, while not technically an official member of the team, eventually became a close ally of the Guardians, who established their headquarters in Knowhere, where Cosmo still operated as chief of security.
Then, during the story ‘The Thanos Imperative (opens in a new tab)‘, the Guardians were forced to team up with Thanos to defeat an evil version of Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, from an alternate reality. “The Thanos Imperative” concluded with the Guardians disbanding and the apparent death of Peter Quill (who eventually got better) – but before he died, Quill tasked Cosmo with forming a new incarnation of the team.
Cosmo then founded the Nullifiers (opens in a new tab)a new cosmic team consisting of Silver Surfer, Gladiator of the Shi’ar, Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, and Thor’s ally Beta Ray Bill.
The Annihilators were short-lived, and Cosmo ended up in Knowhere, where he was poisoned by the evil Captain Skaarn, who attempted to conquer the station for himself.
Cosmo was saved by Nova, rewarding Cosmo for saving Nova’s life when they first met. And that was the last time Cosmo appeared in the comics.
Cosmo in the MCU
Cosmo made an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy as part of the Collector’s Menagerie, but Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will put Cosmo in the spotlight as a character with more of a presence in the film, voiced by Maria Bakalova of Borat 2 fame.
While the nature of Cosmo’s inclusion in the sequel has yet to be revealed (other than a misfit talking dog in a spacesuit is purely aesthetic a la James Gunn), there’s a good chance it will. has a connection to the High Evolutionary, whose comic book experiments often involve creating animal-human hybrids or experimenting with evolving animals.
There’s also the fact that the film’s director, James Gunn, said Guardians Vol. 3 will be the end of this form of teamwork in the MCU – which means it’s possible that Cosmo will end up forming a new team like the Annihilators in the aftermath of the film.
We’ll find out when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters in 2023.
Check best Guardians of the Galaxy stories already.