Director James Gunn revealed which Marvel Cinematic Universe movies fans need to watch to fully enjoy the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The movie is Marvel Studios' first Christmas special and will take a band of intergalactic outlaws to Earth as they try to give Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) a genuine holiday experience.The MCU is a great Hollywood experiment. However, with thirty movies already released and eight full seasons of TV shows developed by Marvel Studios available on Disney+, sometimes it can feel overwhelming to follow everything and catch every reference to the MCU’s past, present, and future. So much so that some fans feel like they have to do homework to understand a new superhero adventure. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.When asked on Twitter which movies fans would need to watch to enjoy the special, Gunn was blunt to say, “none are must-see, including the Guardians films.” That’s right; you can jump on the MCU wagon for the Holiday Special without caring about the previous years of films and series. Even though no other MCU production is needed to understand the Holiday Special, Gunn underlines that “the two Guardians movies, Infinity War, and Endgame all have small amounts of information in them that are referenced.” That was to be expected, simply because these previous movies explain why the Guardians are coming back to Earth on Christmas.
The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies explore how the group of renegades formed a found family while traveling through the cosmos. It also shows how Peter becomes a romantic interest of the warrior Gamorra (Zoe Saldana). However, in Avengers: Infinity War, Thanos (Josh Brolin) kills Gamorra to obtain the Soul Stone. Her death devastates Peter, who’s again torn apart when a Variant of Gamorra from a different timeline shows up on Earth-616 during Avengers: Endgame. This new version of Gamorra never had any adventure with the Guardians and immediately rejected Peter as a partner. So, now, the leader of the Guardians is consumed by grief. In the Holiday Special, his outlaw companions will bring him to Earth, his birth planet, to celebrate Christmas and cheer him up.
How the Holiday Special Connects to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’?
While the Holiday Special is a standalone story, it will also bridge the gap between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Besides showing what the Guardians are doing after the events of Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder, the Holiday Special also promises to introduce new characters to the MCU, including Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Maria Bakalova as the voice of Cosmo the space dog. The Holiday Special also stars Kevin Bacon as himself, which shouldn’t be surprising, as the actor is one of Peter’s biggest Earth heroes.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special also stars Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Vin Diesel as Groot’s voice.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will be released on Disney+ on November 25. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023. Check out Gunn’s original tweet and the Holiday Special’s trailer below: