This year at E3, Square Enix spent a good chunk of its show covering Marvel properties. While the struggling Marvel's Avengers showed off an updated roadmap as well as a first look at the War for Wakanda expansion, the bulk of the Square Enix showcase was given to Eidos Montreal and its take on Guardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the live service Avengers game, Guardians of the Galaxy is a more traditional single-player experience with a strong focus on narrative. Players will step into the role of the team's unofficial leader, Peter "Star-Lord" Quill.
While players won't be able to play as some of the other iconic members of the Guardians like Groot or Rocket Raccoon, players will be interacting with them through combat commands as well as dialogue choices that appear during cutscenes and other big story moments. Based on the initial trailer as well as developer insights following E3, players will be seeing plenty of other Marvel-related characters show up, many of which are commonly associated with the Guardians of the Galaxy comic storylines.
Lady Hellbender was featured in the trailer as an antagonist to the group and is likely someone that isn't incredibly known to many Marvel fans. Mantis and the Nova Corps were also shown off as well as a dog in a CCCP space suit. Comic fans may have recognized this character as Cosmo the Space Dog, a longtime ally of the Guardians. Here's everything that players need to know about Cosmo and his role within the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy game.
Cosmo's Origins in Guardians of the Galaxy
Originally created by Marvel Comics, the dog known as Cosmo is a Golden Retriever/Lab mix used by the Soviet Union in its Space Program during the 1960s. Serving as a test animal, Cosmo was launched into orbit as part of an experiment, however, things didn't go to plan. The spacecraft Cosmo was inside ultimately drifted off of the planned trajectory, eventually sending him far away from Earth.
During his journey, Cosmo was affected by cosmic rays which caused mutations to his DNA, ultimately giving him psionic powers and abilities. Eventually, Cosmo landed on Knowhere, a location featured prominently in the comics as well as multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe movies such as the first Guardians of the Galaxy. Knowhere was a city built inside of the decaying head of a Celestial and primarily served as a scientific location for various races and their studies of events that had taken place at the edge of the universe.
Cosmo the Space Dog's Powers
Thanks in large part to being subjugated to cosmic rays during his unexpected flight, Cosmo gained telepathic abilities. While also exhibiting normal dog-like traits such as being loyal and running fast, Cosmo's telepathy also allows him to speak to human characters.
Including being a gifted telekinetic, honing his abilities over the years, Cosmo can also use telepathy to not only read the mind of others but being able to influence them as well. His abilities have even extended to defensive abilities like being able to create telepathic cloaking, creating illusions like the powerful Marvel character Adam Warlock, as well as psionic shields.
However, Cosmo has also shown the ability for offensive and effective abilities. His telepathic manipulation also includes being able to control someone's mind, erase memories, rendering someone unconscious, or projecting a psionic blast hitting a target's mind.
Cosmo's Cameos
Over the years, Cosmo became the Chief of Security for Knowhere and has worked with all kinds of various cosmic related superheroes in the Marvel Universe including both versions of the character Nova, Richard Rider and Sam Alexander, Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Phyla-Vell, and more. In fact, Cosmo was the one to originally help the Guardians set up their base on Knowhere after they first formed. Currently, he acts as their liaison, giving the team a heads up on potential trouble spots in the universe. To this end, perhaps Cosmo could serve more as a quest-giver of sorts.
Ultimately, it's unknown what Cosmo's role will be in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy game, though most likely expect him to be in a support style role, something he's traditionally in with the comics as well. Considering his role and how prominent Knowhere is both in the movies and comics, players should also likely expect to visit the decaying and decapitated Celestial head at some point in the game as well.
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled to release on October 26 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.