Attention: This article may contain MAJOR spoilers by Marvel Studios‘ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, These were available today via Disney+
James Gunn’s Holiday Special for Guardians of the Galaxy The one-off concept that he had originally created for ABC following the passing of the release of 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
But timing is important and this special arrives just as Gunn finishes up Marvel’s global $1.6 billion grossing Marvel Franchise. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 In theaters May 5, 2023
“I used the holiday special as an opportunity to introduce some elements into Guardians of the Galaxy, so I didn’t have to explain them at the beginning of Volume 3,” Gunn tells Deadline. “It was a trojan horse.
“I don’t have to talk about where they got [the new Guardians HQ] Nowhere from, or Cosmo being around Nowhere,” explains Gunn, who folded the threequel’s new sets into the special — i.e., Nowhere and the new spaceship, The Bowie. “I think you see what Nebula’s role is in the group now: She’s a leader to some degree.
“We see all these changes since we’ve seen them last,” Adds the filmmaker.
The mega reveal here in the Holiday special: We learn that Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis are brother and sister, fathered by Kurt Russell’s Ego.
This holiday special was shot concurrently with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Atlanta “which is an insane experience because Vol. 3 is a serious movie, it deals with these characters’ emotional lives,” Gunn says.
“[Vol. 3] has a lot of heaviness in it,” The filmmaker adds. “So shooting that for a few days, and then shooting this goofy thing — these were like my recess days.
“When you see Guardians 3, you’ll see, yes, there’s a bad guy, but it’s not about that,” He goes on.
The San Diego Comic-Con was where I last saw the event. Vol. 3 Trailer was removed, and the new Guardians villain made a cameo in Hall H in full costume, that being the High Evolutionary played by Chukwudi Iwuji who stars on Gunn’s HBO Max DC show Peacemaker.
Hall H was warned about the High Evolutionary by Hall H. He called him “scum”: “Thank you for inspiring me, for how vomitous you all are…I can’t wait to dissect all of you and see what I can learn.”
Adds Gunn about Vol. 3, “It’s about this family of rejects who have found each other, and have come to love each other, and together with the support of each other, maybe come to accept who they are because they all hate themselves, and that’s really what this journey is about.”
Gunn created the Holiday Special Out of his affection for the 1970s cult Star Wars Holiday SpecialI pitched it to Marvel Studios Boss Kevin Feige who was a big fan. Kevin Bacon was the star of the special and provided plenty to mojo for the production. Footloose actor being kidnapped by Mantis and Dave Bautista’s Drax. Bacon was an idol of Quill’s, telling Zoe Salanda’s Gamora back in the original movie that the actor was a hero, who saved a town that couldn’t dance. Gunn also tapped his favorite band, the alt-country 1990s group Old 97’s, to perform the song he co-wrote with their lead singer Rhett Miller, “I Don’t Know What Christmas Time is, but Christmas Time is Here.”
We previously reported on Gunn talking about his departure from Marvel as he heads to Warner Bros.’ DC Studios as the label’s co-head with Peter Safran. Early next year, the duo will reveal their plans for DC’s universe.
Concerning who Marvel will be leaving behindTheGuardiansGunn last week commented on franchise to “It’s not ever going to be the same group of characters for a lot of different reasons. Who knows what will happen with theGuardiansfranchise in regards to future characters, but in terms of this group of characters, this is the end of their story.”