Why filming GOTG Vol. 3 with Cosmo's Canine actor was so difficult

Spread MCU News

James Gunn, the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, has a deep passion for dogs, which made working with Cosmo’s real-life replacement Slate challenging. While Slate was scanned to construct Cosmo digitally, VFX production supervisor Stephane Ceretti said that anytime the dog was required on set, Gunn’s love of hounds interfered with filming. “James loves dogs, and Slate would always come. James would begin playing with Slate, and by the time our movie started, Slate would say, “Oh, I’m gone.” I’m not sure. I’d want to play. But that was fantastic,” remarked Ceretti. Despite this, having the real creature on hand made it possible for the effects team to more accurately recreate Cosmo’s motions.

It was really great for us to have that on set so we could match and add the reference, said Ceretti. The suppliers were quite grateful that we had gone to the trouble of arranging that for them and especially enjoyed the French store that was doing Slate, which we could look at at all times. Cosmo debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film in 2014, but she didn’t really start to take centre stage until the third installment, which ends with her joining the gang as a main character.

Cosmo’s physical design may have been inspired by a real dog, but several people were upset that Maria Bakalova was chosen to voice the psychic canine. Gunn noted that the decision to gender-swap Cosmo from being male to female for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was intended to honour the real-life dog that served as the model for the space-faring hound. “Cosmo is based on Laika, the Russian dog, who was a female, so I gender-swapped her back,” said Gunn. “Laika, the Russian dog, was a female, so I gender-swapped her back,” said the creator of Cosmo. Bakalova, for her part, has expressed nothing but excitement about joining the MCU, stating that she considers the chance to voice Cosmo to be a dream come true. “It’s been incredible. The movement founded by Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, Dogme 95, and I have both been fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the actor remarked. “Yes, they are two very distinct things, but to me, they are equally significant.