Director James Gunn has shared a fresh image of Cosmo the Spacedog, a key character of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Voiced by Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Maria Bakalova, Cosmo had her most significant Marvel Cinematic Universe role last year in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

Created by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning to pay homage to Laika, the real-life Soviet space dog who was the first animal to orbit Earth, Cosmo is a fan-favorite Guardians of the Galaxy member who has also acted as the security chief of the Knowhere space station. A talented telepath, Cosmo can communicate with any creature through mind waves, even though the good dog cannot speak any language.

While Cosmo is a beloved character from Marvel’s cosmic stories, the dog only had short cameos in the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Cosmo has also appeared in the What If..? animated series, where they are adopted by the Variant of T’Challa (voiced by Chadwick Boseman) who becomes Star-Lord. However, the character remained voiceless until the Holiday Special, which showed how Cosmo has been helping the Guardians to keep things in order in Knowhere.

Cosmo the Space Dog in Guardians of the Galaxy

RELATED: 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3': Trailer, Release Date & Everything We Know About the Final Film in the Trilogy

While Cosmo has been part of the MCU since Gunn joined Marvel Studios to direct Guardians of the Galaxy, the character deserves more than quick cameos. That’s one of the reasons why we are excited about the third and final chapter in Gunn’s MCU trilogy, which will finally give Cosmo its due time in the spotlight. Gunn knows we all love Cosmo, even if the dog didn’t get enough screen time. That’s why the filmmaker doesn’t need to add a big caption when sharing a new image of the Spacedog, as we are already happy to see that furry little face, even with no story reveals attached to the picture.

Who Else Is Part of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’?

While we would be happy about a whole movie about Cosmo, the Spacedog will have to share the screen with a bunch of new talented additions. First, we have Chukwudi Iwuji’s High Evolutionary, a new villain obsessed with creating the perfect lifeform, and who’s apparently connected to Rocket Raccoon’s (voiced by Bradley Cooper) origin story. The threequel also added Will Poulter as Adam Warlock, a perfect bioengineered being mentioned in Vol. 2's end-credits scenes. Finally, Vol. 3 also counts The Suicide Squad’s Daniela Melchior and Superstore’s Nico Santos in undisclosed roles.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 flies to theaters on May 5, 2023. Check out the new Cosmo image below.