James Gunn has used his Twitter account to announce that he has been writing the first draft of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Gunn pens the script and will also direct the upcoming Disney+ one-shot, which will be filmed at the same time as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
Gunn published the cover of the Holiday Special script on Twitter, saying “This is the wrapping. The present is inside.” The script is credited to James “Long Elf” Gunn, giving the filmmaker a festive nickname to go with the theme. On the cover, we can also see the words “first draft," together with the date April 22. This has been a busy week for Gunn, who announced last Monday that upcoming DC movie The Suicide Squad is completely done and didn’t even need reshoots during post-production.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was confirmed back in December 2020, on Disney’s Investor Day. As with everything Marvel does, details of the special’s plot are being kept under wraps. So far, we know it will be placed after Thor: Love and Thunder, which will also bring the Guardians back somehow after the events of Avengers: Endgame led to the formation of the "Asgardians of the Galaxy." According to Gunn, the special will also bridge the gap between the second Guardians movie, released back in 2017, and the third installment, set to release in 2023.
Thor: Love and Thunder is scheduled to be released in theaters on May 6, 2022. While no official date was given for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, it’s expected to be available on Disney+ for Christmas 2022. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be released sometime in 2023. You can check out Gunn's original tweet below: