Epigraphs
I’ve done my share of waiting
And I’ve still got nowhere else to go.
So, I wait for you to
Take me all the way
Take me all the way.
- Three Days Grace, “Take Me All the Way”
And the stone that sits on the very top
Of the mountain’s mighty face
Does it think it’s more important
Than the stones that form the base?
. . .
You must look at your life,
Look at your life through Heaven’s Eyes
- The Prince of Egypt, “Through Heaven’s Eyes”
“We are about creating . . . the memories . . . of the future. What are the kids today going to look back on and go, “Oh, my God, that really meant something to me as a child.” . . . My goal is very, very simple. I just want people to walk out of the theater caring about each other more than they cared about each other before they walked into that film . . . And if we can make someone who goes to see Guardians of the Galaxy and see a movie about a bunch of outcasts and people who have a difficulty being loved and maybe associate with those characters and feel, see something of themselves in those characters, [that is] the only reason I make movies . . . to help us all feel like we belong a little bit more.”
- James Gunn on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Foreword
Cosmos is a space opera adventure drama about two friends, at the outbreak of interplanetary civil war, searching for their missing beloved before she ends her life.
The tale is inspired by the sheer emotional and visual wonder of the space adventures, fantasies, and dramas that inspire us then and now. Star Wars. Laputa: Castle in the Sky and the other works of Studio Ghibli. The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009). Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Saga by Brian K. Vaugh and Fiona Staples. Cowboy Bebop. Space Dandy and Futurama. Dune. Mobile Suit Gundam. Green Lantern. A Silent Voice. The Final Fantasy series. Steven Universe. Titan A.E. Transformers. Honor Harrington. Tron.
This story is filled with excitement, laughter, and pure escapism that makes us applaud with awe because we are a part of this magical galaxy and its remarkable people. This story is also one of suicide, war, and suffering. A cathartic prayer of hope for those of us who feel we cannot live another day with our demons and ourselves. A modern drama of a silent agony that few speak of and too many endure in hopelessness.
Cosmos journeys back to the toys, make-believe, drawings, and daydreaming of our childhoods–when we believed we would one day have our own spaceships–to reignite our inner lights against the darkness we now face.
The setting is in the galaxy of our imaginations: distant and fantastic, inhabited by all kinds of bizarre aliens, stunning animals, sentient robots, friendly mutants, and foreign humans. There are countless wondrous planets, such as a world where the four seasons cycle in one day, and another which is scarred by the archaic remnants of nuclear war. Space is enriched with magnificent nebulas, rainbow stars, and enormous animals that swim through the heavens. Faster-than-light (FTL) technology allows anyone with at least a bucket-of-a-starship to see their galaxy. Motley gangs, out for treasure and their own freedom, roam this interstellar home. Diverse, contrasting, and remarkable cultures interact together. Thus, pieces recognizable to and far beyond our own world co-exist, like apple trees, bullets, holograms, hovercrafts, beasts of burden, radios, advanced devices, cuisine in cups, and more.
Long ago, this galaxy’s planets were separated and longed for discovery. Over many millennia, the unique societies of these worlds built rudimentary rocket ships. In time, they made better star crafts and launched them beyond their known regions. At last, these explorers contacted each other. Inevitable mingling, trading, uniting, distrust, prejudice, and war followed. After centuries of conflicts between worlds and their peoples, many of the surviving combatants decided that petty feuds were meaningless compared to the vast cosmos. In peace, these folk formed the Galactic Alliance: the largest interplanetary government in the galaxy. Many worlds, like the Alliance’s rival, Planet Gilia, remain independent from this ruling government, while others have yet to be visited by any off-worlder.
Our story of love and despair takes place in this galaxy.
From the Story's Creator:
The Background and Hope for Cosmos
To the surprise of nobody who knows me even a little, I was a very imaginative child. Dreaming of other worlds as real places and knowing those who resided in them were just one lucky magic door away was the way I grounded myself in reality. Little surprise, then, that animation felt more real than the real world for me and that I became the passionate, geeky professor-type I am today. I never really outgrew that love I had for escapism–for toys, cartoons, daydreaming, and the beautiful things in my childhood that made me believe there were other worlds than these.
But the child who believed he would go to Never-Neverland certainly one day grew up, and under terrible circumstances. Time passed and eventually, I was attending university, about to turn 20 years old, and still under the belief that I was going to become the next great filmmaker in just a few years. Three very significant events happened during April 2015 that became the genesis of Cosmos.
First, the legendary Studio Ghibli–the makers of some of my favorite and most influential films, whose entire filmography I have seen and studied for many years–announced its shut down. At the time, I could not imagine a world without a new Ghibli film on the horizon. I finally found their rare “On Your Mark” music video, concerning two cops in a dystopian society going rogue to save an angel, was moved to tears, and wondered: “What if Studio Ghibli made a sci-fi film?” Originally, Cosmos had that working reference title: “The Sci-Fi Film Studio Ghibli Never Made”.
Secondly, on the week of my 20th birthday, Star Wars Celebration was happening. I got to see The Force Awakens panel live online, which capped off with the official trailer–the one that ended with Han Solo declaring, “Chewie . . . we’re home.” I was so ecstatic, so in awe and excited by what I saw, I grew a wonderful childish jealousy and thought, “Why can’t I make a space opera idea?” I had dabbled in one as a kid but when I started to write “more seriously” as a teenager, I never bothered with a space opera. Star Wars existed. So did Dune. What was the point of trying to make an epic film I never, ever could, anyway?
Still, I wondered, and so I took George Lucas’ concept of a simplistic plot–a rescue mission–and took inspiration from a line from The Incredibles to invert the idea: “What if a pair, where the hero was really the sidekick, were trying to save someone who did not want to be saved?” I wondered why someone would not want to be saved, and looking inward, I found my answer.
Thirdly, in retrospection, I was suffering from serious mental health problems which had begun in my pre-teens and blossomed into uncontrollable, chronic issues by the time of my 20th birthday. At the time, I felt there were few to no stories that dealt with mental health in a way I needed. I remembered how so many stories, like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Final Fantasy VII, had saved me, and would continue to save me, by sharing the greatest of gifts: the declaration that I was not alone, that I was not stupid for feeling the way I did, and that there was hope in the despair I suffered from. Needing an outlet for my pain, I realized someone would not want to be saved because of suicidal feelings caused by mental health problems. There was a story that needed telling!
My great hope for this project is to use the toys of childhood, the space opera adventure daydreams I used to thrive in, to try to heal the real adult darkness I now live with–not just for myself, but for others as well. To pass on the great gift that stories that saved me once offered a lonely and suffering me from the past. To continue that legacy, to make a story that others can find comfort, hope, and perhaps even clarity within, time and time again, would be the greatest honor and achievement. I hope that Cosmos can entertain and reach people in the ways my favorite stories have done for me, so that we would be worthy of being invited to fan conventions–not for the glory, but to know, for certain, by achieving that milestone, that we had gone the distance and given real light to people in a dark world.
This was the dream of eleven years ago, and one that, despite the blood, sweat, and tears, remains alive today. Thank you for helping us bring this dream to life!
- Charles X. Rodriguez