Ready to celebrate the holidays with the Guardians of the Galaxy?
The superhero team, introduced in James Gunn’s 2014 feature and led by Chris Pratt’s Star Lord, have gone on to become some of the most popular characters in the vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing in “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame,” as well as this summer’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.” (They have also inspired two separate Disney Parks attractions, at both Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney World’s EPCOT.)
This year, they’re helping us all celebrate the holidays on Disney+ in “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.” (And yes, the name is a cheeky reference to George Lucas’ abysmal “Star Wars Holiday Special.”)
The Disney+ event, a “Marvel Studios Special Presentation” like this month’s excellent Halloween joint “Werewolf by Night,” arrives on the platform in one month. Perfect timing to plunge you into the holiday spirit!
Watch the trailer above.
All of your favorite Guardians performers will be back for the outing, including Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldaña, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff and Sean Gunn. What’s also great is that Cosmo (voiced by “Borat 2” and “Bodies Bodies Bodies” breakout Maria Bakalova) makes her first appearance ahead of a larger role in the third film. And we get a Kevin Bacon cameo, which is both exciting but also kind of a bummer since does this mean that he can’t play anyone in the MCU? Discuss.
Once again written and directed by Gunn, production on the special took place during the filming of “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3,” which is due May 3, 2023. Gunn has said that the third feature will be his last time in the MCU (previously he was being earmarked as overseeing the entire “cosmic” side of the MCU, but that was before Disney briefly fired him after insensitive tweets were recirculated by right-wing trolls).
“The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” arrives on Disney+ Nov. 25.
