Cosmo

Origin

Cosmo is a Golden Retriever/Labrador cross-breed dog that was a former test animal of the Soviet Space Program. He was launched into Earth's orbit as part of an experiment at some point during the 1960s, ending up drifting into deep space. Somewhere along the line, Cosmo was mutated and developed telepathic abilities, and he wound up arriving on Knowhere. He eventually took the position as head of security of the space station.

Cosmo has since become the liaison to the new Guardians of the Galaxy and has helped them plot their passport destination and travel to trouble-spots in the universe via the Continuum Cortex.

Creation

Cosmo was created by writers Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett, and artist Wellinton Alves. He first appeared in Nova Vol.4 issue 8 (2008).

Major Story Arcs

Secret Invasion

Cosmo's loyalty to the team was in doubt after a group of Skrulls infiltrated Knowhere and destroyed the Continuum Cortex. Cosmo was protecting a group of Skrulls and was accused as a traitor by Adam Warlock. Cosmo convinced Adam Warlock to see the truth as he did with Drax and Quasar.

Unfortunately things became complicated when Cynosure led the Luminals into Knowhere to kill the Skrulls, forcing Cosmo to protect the same group of Skrulls. Cosmo would have been killed by Cynosure's energy blast if it wasn't for a Skrull who threw himself to take the hit to save Cosmo. Cosmo was enraged and unleashed a telekinetic blast that stunned both the Luminals and Guardians of the Galaxy. Cosmo used this opportunity to explain and apologize for any confusion he had caused.

War of Kings

After some negotiating failures of the Guardians while trying to convince the Inhumans and the Imperial Guard to stop their War of Kings, Cosmo is one of the Guardians taken by Starhawk to the future. They learn that it is indeed Black Bolt that causes the Fault and the destruction of the universe.

With their time machine broken they formulate a plan to send a message back to the past to warn the other Guardians. Cosmo is able to telepathically communicate with one of the Celestials in the Celestial Engine (a device made by the Badoon to stop the spread of the Fault). The message is given and received by Adam Warlock in the past through Knowhere, which is able to communicate with other Celestials in any time period.

When the alignment of the Celestials in the engine breaks, the Fault consumes them. This should have been the death of Cosmo and the others, but it was not. They ended up being sent adrift in the time stream. As a side effect of this, Cosmo was made much younger into a puppy.

Only after traveling through several alternate futures are Cosmo and the other Guardians assisted by Kang the Conqueror, who restores them to their normal states. He informs them of Adam Warlock becoming the Magus and that all futures are becoming Magus futures. He gives Starlord a Cosmic Cube to stop this from happening and transports them to moments before the transformation.

Starlord is unable to stop Adam from becoming the Magus. When Cosmo and Mantis try to combine their telepathic abilities to assault the Magus, he returns with an attack of his own, killing them both. Starlord is able to stop the Magus, but not before Cosmo, Mantis, Major Victory, Phyla, Gamora and Adam have lost their lives. This is what the Magus led everyone to believe and Cosmo and the others were taken prisoner and tortured in an attempt to convert them to the Church's belief. They were able to escape but soon came face to face with the evil Titan Thanos.

Thanos Imperative

The true nature of the Fault began to reveal itself and the corrupted beings of the Cancerverse began their invasion. The Guardians allied with Thanos to stop the evil Lord Mar-Vell. In the end, the team disbanded, losing Warlock, Phyla, Drax and their leader Starlord. But before he died, Starlord left Cosmo with a task - collect the greatest heroes in the universe to form a band of " Annihilators," the team Peter believed was what the Guardians of the Galaxy should have been.

Cosmo one by one convinced the Silver Surfer, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill, Quasar and Ronan to team up and protect the universe together, as was Starlord's final wish.

Character Profile

• Height: 23" (at the withers)
• Weight: 70 lbs
• Eye Color: Brown
• Hair Color: Golden yellow
• Species: Golden retriever/Labrador mix
• Place of Birth: Russia
• Known Masters: Soviet Space Program
• Distinguishing features: Eyes glow light blue when using his powers.

Powers & Abilities

In addition to a dog's standard sense of enhanced hearing and smell, Cosmo has psionic abilities, including high-level telepathy and telekinesis. He has shown to be capable of creating defensive shields strong enough to deflect energy-blasts, as well as project mind-blasts of tremendous force. His exact power levels are unknown, but he has shown to be strong enough to take on a being such as Adam Warlock by himself, and powerful enough to unleash a telekinetic blast able to disable two separate teams of superhumans.

Along with these abilities, Cosmo seems to have a considerably extended lifespan, especially for a dog, since he has been around since the Soviet Union.

In Other Media

Film

• Cosmo appears in Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the exhibits in the Collector's museum on Knowhere. He is eventually revealed to be a female dog in the MCU. She is freed after a huge explosion caused by an Infinity Stone.
• Cosmo makes a cameo appearance in the end credit sequence of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
• Cosmo appears in a speaking role, voiced by Maria Bakalova, in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. She has become a helpful ally of the Guardians who had bought Knowhere from The Collector and were setting it up as their new headquarters and shelter for wayward aliens. The gender of Cosmo was changed to match that of Laika, the first dog in space.
• Maria Bakalova reprises Cosmo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, James Gunn's final installment in his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. She works as support for the Guardians of the Galaxy on Knowhere, specifically putting her telekinesis to good use with new construction projects.

Television

• Cosmo appears in 17 episodes of the "Guardians of the Galaxy." He is voiced by James Arnold Taylor.
• An alternate reality version of Cosmo appears as a crewman on a pirate ship in the episode "Return to the Spider-Verse Part 2" of the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. This is a non-speaking role.
• Cosmo appears in What If...T'Challa Became a Star-Lord? on Disney+ streaming service in a non-speaking role.

Games

• Cosmo appears in Disney Infinity 2.0, voiced by Carlos Alazaraqui
• Non-playable character in the turn-based social network game, Marvel: Avengers Alliance
• Non-playable character in the console MMORPG, Marvel: Heroes
• Playable character in the console game, Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
• James Arnold Taylor reprises the role of Cosmo in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order for the Nintendo Switch.
• Cosmo appears as the head of security at the Knowhere space station in the console game, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, by Square Enix.
• Cosmo appears in the digital collectible card game, Marvel Snap