Comic-Con 2022: Borat’s Maria Bakalova Cast as Cosmo

The cast for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is growing by the day, with all kinds of cosmic Marvel mainstays being introduced. During Marvel’s Hall H panel Saturday, James Gunn was on-hand to officially introduce Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary. Not only that, but the filmmaker also confirmed Borat star Maria Bakalova will be voicing Cosmo the Spacedog.

“THANK YOU @JamesGunn You are truly an EXTRAORDINARY creator and it’s been the biggest honor for me to work with you! Your vision, your humor, your talent are beyond this world! Not only that but you’re one of the most amazing humans I’ve ever met! I love you! I admire you! and I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE everyone involved in #GotGVol3 and @marvelstudios! What a talent beautiful group of people #family,” Bakalova tweeted earlier this summer.

Gunn quickly responded, “Fun fact about Maria: She loves being a part of the Guardians so much she’d hang out on set on her days off. One of a kind. Glad you joined our slightly strange family, @MariaBakalova96!”

Though a first look was revealed to people in attendance at Hall H, that footage has yet to be shown online.

“After over 100 days of shooting & over 3000 shots, this is the slate for the final shot of #GotGVol3, presented to me by the camera crew. It was an easy shot of Rocket seated, 1st with @seangunn, & then nothing there, & took everything in me not to break down sobbing on the spot,” Gunn said to his followers on Twitter after the film wrapped. “The majority of the last ten years of my life have been spent working on & thinking about the Guardians. I still have a long road ahead of me with VFX & editing, but it was still momentous to me.”

“It is somewhat simple to explain to others how much I love this cast & crew. It is more difficult to explain how much I love these characters – that I see them as parts of myself & parts of those I love, & filming them, & writing their words, is a way of expressing that love,” he continued. “Again, I’ll still be working with them over the next year until release, but shooting that last shot was a reminder of the warm impermanence of life & love, & how that impermanence makes it so precious, so valuable, & is a good reason to be grateful for what I have right now.” 

The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies are now streaming on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters May 5, 2023. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special have yet to receive release dates.

What members of the Guardians would you like to see spin-off shows of? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!