The Real Reason 'Captain Marvel' Changed the Name of Carol's Cat

While Captain Marvel looks to be keeping things pretty close to the recent run of Carol Danvers [...]

By Charlie Ridgely

While Captain Marvel looks to be keeping things pretty close to the recent run of Carol Danvers comics, the movie is making one big change that had every fan wondering "why?" As you can probably guess, we're talking about Carol's beloved cat, Chewie. Well, the cat that used to be named Chewie.

That's been its name in the comics for some time, but the movie flipped the script by changing it to Goose, an obvious nod to Top Gun. Being that Carol Danvers is a pilot, this new name makes plenty of sense, but no one was sure exactly why a change needed to be made in the first place. Never fear, the directors of the film certainly have their reasons.

Captain Marvel helmers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck recently sat down with Collider to talk about the film, and they were asked why the Star Wars-inspired name was dropped for the big screen.

"It wasn't a big thing. It just felt like Star Wars was so part of the culture that, it just felt like we wanted to remove it a little bit, you know, the nostalgia for the Star Wars movies which there are so many of around us," Fleck said. "You know, when we were kids, Star Wars felt like it was something from the 70s and 80s, and I think that was the spirit of Chewie from the comics but we felt like we wanted to sort of just slide away from that slightly."

"Yeah, and just the idea of having a reference that would have been so specific to Carol Danvers' past," Boden added, "as her past in the movie itself being a pilot in the 1980s when Top Gun was out and having a reference that felt a little bit more specific to her, whereas Chewie, when the comics were being written was a very specific reference in time but now with all the movies out it feels more contemporary and not so specific to her past."

Regardless of its name, Carol's feline accomplice is stealing the spotlight as the film draws closer, and every early screening reaction has been sure to mention just how charming he is.

Captain Marvel is set to hit theaters on March 8th.

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