Almost everyone loves movie animals. They’re usually cute and they often do neat tricks. Unless it’s absolutely required by the narrative, most filmmakers also know not to kill a pet or risk losing the audience. Some of the most fun, on-screen creatures turn out to be much more than the average animal, endowed with the ability to speak or do some other remarkable thing. In Captain Marvel, everyone keeps telling Nick Fury that Goose is more than a cat, but he’s too preoccupied with how adorable (and normal-looking) the feline is to pay much attention.
*Spoiler alert* Goose is an alien that just happens to blend in very well with Earth’s other tabbies. The word “Flerken” gets thrown around a lot in her presence, but the humans — on- and off-screen — don’t find out what that means until nearly the end of the movie. In short, the kitty can unhinge its jaw and release powerful, colourful tentacles that can take out anything in its path — an ability that proves useful when they’re outnumbered. So having already put out a full line of character-inspired Pop!s before the film’s release, Funko waited a week before announcing this delightful spoiler… though depending on your location, it took a bit longer to hit store shelves.
Goose-enthusiasts already had access to a regular and flocked version of the scene-stealer, but now they can treat themselves to what is dubbed the “full-form” Goose. But that’s not all. In addition to the exploding homage to the post-credit sequence in which the cat coughs up the Tesseract like it’s a stubborn hairball, there’s a chase version that’s more kitty than tentacles so fans can enjoy the cuteness and weirdness at the same time. Announced alongside Captain Marvel securing the Tesseract in the handy lunchbox, both blue cubes glow in the dark for an added level of coolness.
One of the best things about this release is if you already had a regular version and you manage to get the one in six chase, you can display all three figures in a row to demonstrate the many faces of Goose. Together, they show how she evolves from harmless-looking feline to potentially annoyed cat that swallowed an octopus to “run for your life!” The detail of these Pop!s really brings them to life. The bi-colour feelers don’t bleed into each other, while you can still see a few sharp little teeth. Moreover, her tiny nametag is perfectly legible and her stripes are reminiscent of an orange tabby’s fur. The designs are a perfect replica adapted to Funko’s distinct style, capturing one of the movie’s most amusing personalities.