Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn loves dogs so much that it made working with Cosmo’s real-life stand-in Slate especially difficult.
Per ComicBook, VFX production supervisor Stephane Ceretti explained that while Slate was scanned to digitally recreate Cosmo, whenever the canine was needed on set Gunn’s passion for hounds got in the way of shooting. “Every time Slate would come, James loves dogs. So James would start playing with Slate and then by the time we were rolling, Slate was like, ‘Oh, I’m gone. I don’t know. I want to play.’ But it was great,” Ceretti said. Despite this, having the actual creature available allowed the effects team to better replicate his movements to create a more authentic Cosmo.
“It was actually fantastic to have that on set for us because we could match and add the reference,” Ceretti continued. “We could look at all the time, and the vendors really liked that French store that was doing Slate was very appreciative that we had gone through the effort of doing that for them.” While Cosmo first joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the original Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, she only become a more prominent member of the team in the third entry which ultimately concludes with her joining the group as a core character.
Cosmo Takes the World By Storm
While Cosmo may have physically been based on a real dog, the telepathic pup is voiced by Maria Bakalova, a move that proved controversial to some. While the character is originally male in the comics, Gunn gender-swapped Cosmo to female for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a move he said was made to honor the real-life dog that inspired the space-faring hound. “Cosmo is based on Laika, the Russian dog, who was a female, so I gender-swapped her back,” Gunn explained. “Cosmo is based on Laika, the Russian dog, who was a female, so I gender-swapped her back.”
For her part, Bakalova has been nothing but enthusiastic about joining the MCU, noting that she views the opportunity to voice Cosmo as a dream come true. “It’s been amazing. I’ve been a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, alongside being a fan of Dogme 95, the movement created by Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg,” the actor said. “Yes, they are two completely different things, but equally important to me.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now streaming on Disney+ and is available on Blu-ray, DVD and 4K Ultra HD.
Source: ComicBook