“the perfect present is a galaxy way”

DISCLAIMER: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! 

Please do not continue reading this article if you intend on watching this hour-long Christmas special since it does contain major The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special spoilers (originally released exclusively on Disney+ on November 25th).

Previous *Spoiler Free* Article

Go check out a previous Guardians of the Galaxy article, “Marvel Studios’ Special Presentation: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Official Trailer Breakdown and Hidden Details”, which breaks down the trailer for the Christmas special and is spoiler free. 

https://talonnews.org/1555/entertainment/marvel-studios-special-presentation-the-guardians-and-the-galaxy-holiday-special-official-trailer-breakdown-and-hidden-details/

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

Following the release of Werewolf By Night (originally streaming on October 7th), The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is only the second Marvel Studios project that is not in the form of a theatrical film or a weekly streaming series. This all new hour special shows a holiday adventure between the Guardians of the Galaxy as they try to cheer up Peter Quill/Star-Lord as he is depressed about Gamora, well his Gamora, being gone. So Drax and Mantis set off on an adventure by themselves to get Peter the best Christmas present of them all to brighten his spirits!! What can possibly go wrong when two incompetent aliens come to Earth during the holidays?? It’s the most heartwarming idea in a Marvel project for the Guardians to band together to cheer Peter up as they try to find Peter the perfect present or the perfect someone; Kevin Bacon. 

The cast includes Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Dave Bautista (Drax), Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Bradley Cooper voicing Rocket Raccoon, Vin Diesel voicing Groot, Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Michael Rooker cameoing as Yondu, Cosmo returned to the Guardians of the Galaxy (voiced by Maria Bakalova), and introducing Kevin Bacon (of course playing himself). This holiday special was directed and written by James Gunn, who has directed every Guardians of the Galaxy project to date in the MCU and will finish out the Guardians trilogy as fans await the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. James Gunn confirmed at Comic Con that the third film will be the end of an era for the Guardians saying, “Some stories have to end, doesn’t mean everyone dies.” But before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 can completely destroy fans, enjoy a fun and Christmasy Guardians adventure as it may be the last care-free one before the third installment. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Review (covered by Val Kohan)

Back in 2014, Marvel took a huge risk in making a big ticket movie surrounding lesser known Marvel comic property. The comics and characters were “marked by its unabashed weirdness”, as they were certified as a group of weird so-called heroes, but James Gunn used that to his advantage creating one of the most popular movie franchises in the world as the Guardians are one of the most perfect teams to represent that found family aspect, a trope many viewers can get behind. This being said, as a Marvel fan, I have always enjoyed each Guardians project to date and absolutely loved their interactions with the Avengers in Infinity War and Endgame. The reason why the Guardians are as popular as they are is because of James Gunn. I don’t think the Guardians movies and characters themselves would be as good if they weren’t directed and written by him. James Gunn perfectly transcribes how the Guardians should be depicted as a family rather than a team. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is just another project to add to that idea as it is an ideal special that shows how families, like the Guardians, are at the holidays even though they don’t exactly know what Christmas is but they know Christmas time is here. Overall, the Holiday Special is just that, an enjoyable Christmas tale that is fun to watch with the family. It is an entertaining hour-special full of comedic Guardian moments, hilarious action sequences, and abduction of the legendary, Kevin Bacon. To make sure the special was fun to watch, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is the first ever Marvel project to not feature a villain or any antagonist in that case. The special took everything that fans love from holiday specials and the Guardians to make one of Marvel’s first Christmas projects. Not only does the Holiday Special get viewers into the holiday spirit but just shows yet another one of the Guardians’ adventures. I’d describe that this special presentation is the calm before the storm since James Gunn has been teasing the third Guardians installment will be quite a tearjerker. Meaning that this may be the last time some of fan’s favorites are going to be in the MCU, as it is expected that a majority of the Guardians are most likely not going to survive Guardians 3. I’m so glad the Holiday Special was strictly surrounded around Mantis and Drax, as they are usually unseen since the other Guardians are conventionally more popular than them. So it was nice to see them, especially Mantis, get the spotlight finally, as she is quite a funny character when she has her moments. As popular as she should be, she is ultimately underrated and I think we should give her the respect she deserves. But after this special I think more viewers and fans will like her more. I find it hilarious that of all of the Guardians to go to Earth to get Peter a present for it to be Mantis and Drax, who are basically the most incompetent to team up and go to unknown territories, especially Hollywood… at Christmas time… to basically kidnap Kevin Bacon. 

I love that Marvel is subtly bringing Cosmo the Spacedog back into the Guardians scene as the character was first seen in Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014 with the Collector. Now since the Guardians bought Knowhere from him, Cosmo is sticking with the Guardians which explains why she will be in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The ending of the Holiday Special was quite heartwarming when the Guardians are all exchanging gifts as Groot gives each Guardian a hand-made scene but the most unexpected part of the entire special was what Nebula gave Rocket, which is arguably the best present ever. She gifted Rocket Bucky’s metal arm which is a hilarious nod to Infinity War. “How much for the gun?” “Not for sale.” “Okay, how much for the arm? Oh, I’ll get that arm.” This moment between Rocket and Bucky has become such a fan favorite and now for Rocket to finally have this full circle moment in getting Bucky’s arm. The only thing now is, how did Nebula get it? I think we are all hoping this is answered eventually. 

My only critique with the special is finding out that Mantis’ father is Ego meaning she and Peter are siblings. In this festive adventure it explores a deeper connection between the characters that makes fans feel more for the characters and become more connected to them as well. So having Mantis and Peter be siblings is not the issue, it is how Marvel went about it in quite a lazy way. In the special Mantis and Drax talk about this as if Marvel expected fans to already be aware of the interesting turn of events… because they did. Two days before the holiday special (on November 23rd) Marvel released two new episodes of Marvel Legends on Disney+. Marvel Legends are twenty six episodes of recaps of Marvel heroes and villain’s stories before an upcoming Marvel release (for example Marvel started putting out episodes right before WandaVision released having the first two episodes be about Wanda and Vision). The most recent episodes being for Mantis and Drax anticipating the holiday special showing clips from Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Infinity War, Endgame, and a snippet from Thor: Love and Thunder. But instead of the shorts recapping major plot points from the character’s stories, Marvel Legend leaked a major spoiler before the holiday special even released. At the end of the Mantis short, there was a never before seen clip of a deleted scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 of Drax asking Mantis, “Why don’t you want to tell him [Peter]? He should know you are his sister.” Mantis then tells Drax that her and Peter’s only connection, meaning Ego, their father, brought him so much pain and suffering, so instead of spoiling their relationship she thinks it’s best to keep it a secret. 

Marvel made a huge mistake in releasing this clip as it is a major spoiler for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Marvel even proceeded to take down the Drax and Mantis shorts off of Disney+ for this reason. Perhaps Marvel was trying to pull a fast one on fans and act like this was always a thing fans were supposed to know where in reality fans who religiously follow Marvel and watched Marvel Legends just found out that Mantis and Peter are related on Wednesday (November 23rd). Many even questioned this when the special released as fans found that Mantis and Drax talked about her secret as if audiences were already aware. In the special, Mantis says, “Because of, you know, my secret. The one only you [Drax] know.” “That you are the entire bowl of zarg-nuts in the commissary?” “My other secret.” “That you’re Quill’s sister?” It seems as if this scene was taken to be directly connected to the deleted scene seen in the Marvel Legends short as Mantis only tells Drax that she is Peter’s sister. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+!!

Look out for “Marvel Studios’ The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Easter Eggs and Hidden Details You May Have Missed” Coming Soon!! 

Happy Holidays!!