In the comics, Carol Danvers' faithful feline companion (who is secretly a Flerken) is called Chewie. That's obviously a reference to Star Wars character Chewbacca, so why has Captain Marvel renamed him Goose - especially when we know that Kevin Feige is a huge fan of the sci-fi franchise?
Well, during a recent interview, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck shed some light on that decision and the latter explained that they wanted to do something a little different for this movie.
"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. 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."
In other words, Captain Marvel's 90s setting made a reference to Top Gun more fitting than Star Wars. Boden went on to explain why they thought that was the best move here.
"Yeah, and just the idea of having a reference that would have been so specific to Carol Danvers’ past, 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."
Ultimately, a name is just a name and it really doesn't make any difference in the grand scheme of things. It still hasn't been confirmed whether or not Goose is actually a Flerken in the movie, but it would be very surprising for the cat not to show off his alien powers, especially with many critics claiming that he steals the show.
On a related note, Marvel released this video last night and, well, you need to see it to believe it...
Click on the "View List" button below to check out
previously leaked Avengers: Endgame promo art!