Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
As a standalone special clocking in under 45 minutes, you'd think there wouldn't be a ton of room for Easter eggs in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which released today on Disney+. But writer/director James Gunn and company still manage to tuck in a number of Marvel references, sly jokes, and hidden cameos amongst all the festive chaos. Here's a list of all the eggs we found scattered throughout the special.
Various MCU and Disney Characters
First up is the usual smattering of references to the MCU at large. As it turns out, a number of Marvel heroes show up in the Guardians special -- only instead of the Avengers themselves, it's Hollywood street performers dressed up like the heroes and taking pictures with fans in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) visit. There are performers cosplaying as Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Black Widow, and Captain America (the latter of whom Mantis hilariously mistakes for Steve Rogers himself). One non-Marvel Disney character -- Captain Jack Sparrow -- turns up in the scene as well. There's even a man dressed as a GoBot, which was a Transformers-esque toy line and cartoon from the 1980s. Drax immediately assaults the GoBot because, according to Mantis, a GoBot killed his cousin. This raises the mind-blowing question: Do GoBots exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?!
Additionally, Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, makes an appearance. Well, okay, part of Bucky makes an appearance. When the Guardians exchange holiday gifts at the end of the special, it's revealed that Nebula (Karen Gillan) was somehow able to procure Bucky's mechanical arm for Rocket (Bradley Cooper), an item the notorious tinkerer has been yearning for since the two fought side by side in Avengers: Infinity War. Meanwhile, if you look closely at the Christmas presents young Peter hopes to pass out during the special's animated sections, you'll see a gift intended for Taserface, one of the Ravagers from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. And while most of the characters from Marvel's Eternals are still currently off the grid, you can spot a poster outside the bar Mantis and Drax visit advertising a Christmas special from Kingo, Kumail Nanjiani's super-powered Bollywood star. (Kingo also recently got name-dropped in the Marvel Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.)
There Are Some DC Shout-Outs, Too
Not content to just feature Marvel Easter eggs, Gunn, who was recently named a chief executive officer over at DC, tucks in a few shout-outs to actors he's worked with over on the DC side of things. Flula Borg, who played Javelin in Gunn's own The Suicide Squad, actually makes a brief appearance as a bartender, and if you look closely at the "Map to the Stars" used by Mantis and Drax, you'll spot photos of fellow Squad actors John Cena and Margot Robbie. In addition, Batman and Bruce Wayne get name-dropped at one point, reminding us that both Batman and Superman canonically exist (at least as fictional characters) inside the MCU.
It's Kevin Bacon!
The first trailer revealed that Peter Quill's hero Kevin Bacon would play a role in the Guardians' latest adventure, and the actor is indeed featured heavily in the Holiday Special. After being kidnapped by Drax and Mantis, they drag him all the way back to Knowhere where Bacon takes the stage with the Old 97's (alien versions of whom are apparently Knowhere's house band) for a rendition of the alt-country band's holiday song "Here It Is Christmastime." Bacon has long had a side career as a professional musician, most notably as half of The Bacon Brothers with his brother Michael, so we're guessing he was delighted to be on set to film that sequence. Additionally, the name of Bacon's real-life wife, actress Kyra Sedgwick, pops up on his phone when he gets a call from her during the movie. Also, here's a fun fact: This isn't the first time Bacon and Gunn have worked together, as the actor played a supporting role in Super, the director's darkly comic superhero film from 2010.
Other Guardians Holiday Special Easter Eggs
There are a couple of other cute references stashed within The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Again, that band on Knowhere is an actual human band -- the Old 97's, who have been rocking hard since 1992 (and put out an excellent Christmas album a few years ago). You can also spot a few seconds of director Nicholas Webster's holiday cult classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians playing on TV at Bacon's house. (In the Marvel Universe at least, Bacon seems to be a big fan.) Cosmo, a talking, psychic Russian space dog who's a favorite of comics readers, finally makes her full-fledged MCU debut. And if think you recognize her voice that's because she's played by Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova, who will presumably have an even bigger part in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is out now on Disney+.