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Marvel fans all over the world can’t help but love Cosmo the Spacedog, a.k.a the goodest girl in the Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise’s final movie, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3”.
But did you know that this psychic good dog from the film is based on Laika, a real-life female Soviet space dog?
In the Marvel comics, Cosmo the Spacedog is a male Soviet dog, a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and is frequently referred to as “a good boy”.
So, fans of the comics were quick to notice the gender change in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) where Cosmo is female.
When “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” director, James Gunn, confirmed that actress Maria Bakalova will lend her voice to Cosmo the Spacedog on Twitter in 2022, a fan replied saying that Cosmo (in the comics) is a male Russian dog.
Gunn provided context on the gender change and confirmed that Cosmo is based on Laika the space dog.
Cosmo is based on Laika, a female Soviet space dog who died in orbit in 1957 – I’m just going back to the original source material.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 24, 2022
Laika’s story is a tragic one – she was a stray husky-terrier mix found in the streets of Moscow. And she was involuntarily launched in a one-way mission to space on November 3, 1957 aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft.
During the suicide mission, Laika’s heartbeat tripled the normal rate and her breath rate quadrupled, obviously frightened.
Laika reached orbit alive and circled the Earth for about 103 minutes. However, the good girl eventually passed away due to overheating and panic, on the craft’s fourth orbit.
Her body was never recovered and her ship was destroyed when it re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere in 1958.
Laika was one of the first animals in space, and the first to orbit the Earth. And her gender was crucial for the mission since female dogs are smaller in size and are more docile than their male counterparts.
“I’m just going back to the original source material,” Gunn wrote. Implying that his decision to change Cosmo’s gender in the MCU was a tribute to Laika and her gender’s contribution to the mission’s success.
Not only is Cosmo female in the MCU, but she is also more innocent and friendly as opposed to her comic version who is more stoic and gets easily angry.
