As fitting as it might be for Goose the Cat to be named after a famous fictional co-pilot in Captain Marvel, her name was different in the comics. When she was finally adapted to the big screen, the film’s directors had to make one slight change to avoid any confusion with yet another popular franchise owned by Disney.

In Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) gets her very own standalone film, but she doesn’t fly solo - not technically, at least. Whereas plenty of other superheroes have sidekicks of varied importance, Captain Marvel’s sidekick is her pet cat Goose. And, while there is certainly more than meets in the eye in the marketing material put out so far for Captain Marvel - namely that Goose may actually be more than a simple house cat - there has been one notable change that hasn’t gone unnoticed by fans of the comics. Goose was originally named Chewie, and Captain Marvel’s directors have finally explained why exactly they had to switch things up for the movie.

During an interview with Collider, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck explained why they ultimately made the name change. Instead of being integral to the plot, the change was due to the sheer saturation of Star Wars in pop culture. Fleck said, “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,” adding, “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.” Boden then added that it seemed more fitting to reference Top Gun, considering Carol’s past as an Air Force pilot.

As expected, early reactions of Captain Marvel have included high praise for Goose. While there is no doubt plenty of love for Carol, Talos, and the rest of the film, the cat clearly shines. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff called Goose a “scene stealer,” while Jim Vejvoda called her “purr-fect.” So, even though Star Wars doesn’t get any love like it did in the comics, Goose will still evidently win over audiences.

In Chewbacca’s defense, Star Wars’ most loyal Wookie is perhaps the most dependable co-pilot in fiction. So, had Captain Marvel kept with the source material, fans would have likely been perfectly fine with it. That said, it might be too soon for Disney to have their brands bleeding into each other, so opting for the Top Gun reference is a harmless change. And, assuming the live-action version of Carol’s cat isn’t quite as true to the source material as fans might hope, it’s yet another line of distinction to set the two characters apart.

More: MCU Fans Take Down Captain Marvel Trolls In Hilarious Video

Source: Collider

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