Star Wars fans may have heard of the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978 that George Lucas disowned with a passion. Regardless, some fans enjoyed that mixture of cheesy holiday celebrations joined with a touch of sci-fi. Next month, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is clearly taking a page from that long-abandoned piece of Star Wars lore. And you can bet that this time, the holiday special will remain in continuity.
The story takes place sometime after the Guardians’ recent appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder. Peter Quill/Star-Lord is still obviously mourning his girlfriend, Gamora. While there is another variant of Gamora who is alive after the events of Avengers: Endgame, she’s literally not the woman Peter loved. So to cheer up their friend, the Guardians are bringing Peter back to Earth to celebrate the holidays. The Guardians have been to Peter’s world once before, but they’ve never really had time to enjoy themselves until now.
As revealed in the trailer, Drax and Mantis decide that the ultimate gift to lighten the burden on Peter’s heart is the chance to meet his hero: Kevin Bacon. The famous actor is gamely playing himself in the special, even though Bacon is quite freaked out by two aliens who break into his mansion to kidnap him.
This special was filmed during the production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so almost all of the major cast members are back. That includes Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin Obfonteri, and Borat 2 standout Maria Bakalova as the voice of Cosmo the Spacedog.
James Gunn wrote and directed The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which will premiere on Disney+ on November 25.
