The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, the second Marvel Cinematic Universe special to come to Disney Plus, is arriving on the streaming service on Nov. 25, 2022. The special was written and directed by James Gunn, who was responsible for both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Of course Gunn is now leading up the charge for the DC Universe, after his success with The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker, and his tenure with Marvel will be ending with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 which is set to release in 2023.
With that being said James Gunn still made this holiday special for Disney Plus, and he recently shared his opinion on what you might need to watch as a refresher before watching The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special when asked by a fan on Twitter. The tweet reads, “None are must-see, including the Guardians films.
But the two Guardians movies, Infinity War, and Endgame all have small amounts of information in them that are referenced.” So if you do need a refresher, Gunn has made it easy for you, but let’s unpack why these movies might be good to watch if you’re watching The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
Guardians of the Galaxy
2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy was the first appearance of the Guardians in the MCU. The film set up all of the characters and how they came together to stop Ronan the Accuser from destroying Xandar using the Power Stone. This would most likely be the entry on the list that would be the one you would need to watch the most, as it sets up Star-Lord’s (Chris Pratt) idolization of Kevin Bacon, who is set to make his MCU debut in the upcoming special.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
The sequel to the original film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was released in 2017. The sequel introduced Nebula to the Guardians team and saw the death of Star-Lord’s father figure, Yondu, while the group battled against Star-Lord’s real father Ego (Kurt Russell). The film, among other things, introduced Mantis (Pom Klementieff) into the MCU. She is the empath who was working for Ego, and she joined the Guardians at the end of this film. Seeing as she seems to be the main character in the upcoming special, it is likely that she will ruminate on her past life with Ego as she embraces her time on Earth.
Avengers: Infinity War
Avengers: Infinity War is the third film in the Avengers franchise which was released in 2018 and directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. The film saw Thanos search for the Infinity Stones and achieve his ultimate goal of snapping half of the universe to dust. Of course, in order to claim the Soul Stone, Thanos required the sacrifice of somebody he loved so he killed Gamora.
This ultimately causes Star-Lord to go overboard later on in the movie, causing Thanos to win. The events of Avengers: Infinity War will have undoubtedly shaped all of the Guardians, leading to Star-Lord’s depression in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
At the moment we do not know if the special will focus on Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper) at all, but he was the sole member of the original Guardians who survived the Snap. Therefore, he might be experiencing some form of survivor’s guilt which could be touched upon in the special and then become one of the focuses of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Not to mention that the film doubles down on Kevin Bacon, making yet another reference to the actor and his film, Footloose.
Avengers: Endgame
The sequel to the previous entry, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame was also directed by Joe and Anthony Russo. This behemoth of a film saw the Avengers take the fight to Thanos, traveling back in time to steal the Infinity Stones and bring back everybody who was taken from the Snap five years prior. Of course, this film saw the Gamora of the past come into the present timeline and meet the Guardians of the Galaxy for the first time.
Gamora deciding not to join the Guardians will have impacted them, and this will most likely be explored in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. There is also the possibility that the Guardians have an amount of fame on Earth after helping the Avengers save the universe from Thanos.
Interestingly, two major Guardians of the Galaxy appearances were absent from the director’s list, with Thor: Love and Thunder and the animated series of Disney Plus shorts, I Am Groot nowhere to be seen. It is not too surprising that Gunn left I Am Groot off the list as he has previously stated that he considers the series not to be canon to the MCU. As for Thor: Love and Thunder, the film does take place before the holiday special, as was confirmed by Gunn himself earlier in the year. It is likely that he did not include any direct references to the film as it was written and directed by Taika Waititi.
Although it would be pretty weird if the special did not contain any reference to Thor, as he did seem to be an honorary Guardian of the Galaxy for a while prior to the events of Thor: Love and Thunder. You could excuse no reference to I Am Groot because, for the most part, they were self-contained shorts, although it would be very cute to see Groot’s artwork of the Guardians hanging up in Rocket’s room. Either way, we do not think that Thor: Love and Thunder and I Am Groot are necessarily the worst entries to watch when preparing for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special as they will also put you in the mood for more of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
All in all, you have received word from James Gunn himself, so no matter what you decide to watch before the special comes out, make sure you catch The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special when it soars onto Disney Plus on Nov. 25, 2022.