Sonali Verma
James Gunn has made some marvelous movies throughout his career. The director is known for bringing legendary comic characters to life. The twist he adds to his movies is what intrigues his audience. Yet there is a fraction of the audience that condemns those abrupt changes.
However, Gunn doesn’t shy away from blatantly addressing those comments. Previously, Gunn was criticized for gender swapping, as some internet users called him out for making unnecessary changes. Although Gunn defended his film and shut down all the backlash.
James Gunn Takes a Stand for His Gender-Swapping Decision
James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was undoubtedly one of the best Marvel films, as the movie was much appreciated by the audience. Yet it’s not always possible to impress everyone, as a few Marvel fans are offended by certain alterations made in the film.
The film features a character named Cosmo, a space dog who was originally male in the Marvel comic. Gunn added a twist to it by portraying her as a female in the film. This alteration has bothered some Marvel fans, who criticized Gunn’s idea and claimed that he should stick to the original concept. An internet user took to Twitter and asked Gunn about his purpose in making this change. The user asked,
“Why did you make Cosmo a female when he had always been known as a good boy?”
Another user also condemned Gunn’s idea of gender swapping and claimed that it was unnecessary. The user stated, “The whole point of an adaptation is to adapt.”
Because Cosmo is based on Laika, the Russian dog, who was a female, so I gender-swapped her back.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 14, 2023
The inquisitiveness of the fans was addressed by Gunn as he responded to all the tweets by clarifying that he decided to swap the gender of Cosmo because he was inspired by the real-life dog Laika, who was one of the first animals in space. The director stated,
“I’d rather honor the real dog who died in outer space. Cosmo would not exist without Laika. By the way, I changed Mantis, Drax, High Evo, and others from humans to aliens, which seems a bigger change. Why does it upset you so much?”
“Because Cosmo is based on Laika, the Russian dog, who was female, so I gender-swapped her back.”
This isn’t the first time Gunn has gender-swapped the characters, as previously he did this with Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher II in The Suicide Squad The character of Ratcatcher was originally male in DC Comics but was depicted as female in the film.
James Gunn Leaves No Room for Doubt
This wasn’t the first time Gunn addressed the fans’ inquiry, as he always responds to internet users, whether they are spreading falsehoods or are offended by his work. Previously, the co-CEO of DC Studios clarified several misconceptions about the pre-production process of 2025’s Superman: Legacy.
Gunn’s ideology behind gender swapping is indeed commendable, as he considered honoring Laika in his film. The character Cosmo the Spacedog is a telepathic Soviet space dog who is a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Source: The Direct
