It looks like Christmas has come early this year for Marvel fans - earlier this week, writer and director James Gunn took to social media and announced that he has finished the first draft of his upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special. He posted an image of the title page on his account and wrote in the caption: “This is the wrapping. The present is inside.”
Gunn mentioned in the comments that he had worked on a rough version years ago, but was only able to put forth a presentable draft now. Not much is known about the plot at this moment in time; however, Gunn did mention that the story will take place within the current timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (particularly, in between Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). Both the Holiday Special and Vol. 3 are expected to be linked via Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, who will be returning to the big screen for the third Guardians film.
Given that the script is not even finalized yet, fans will have to wait a little bit longer before they can see the Holiday Special. According to previous reports, Disney Plus will set aside a viewing period The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special during the 2022 holiday season, with Vol. 3 to follow suit. In the meantime, Marvel boss Kevin Feige will take a look at Gunn’s draft first before they move on to the script’s final touches.
Accompanying Pratt in Holiday Special are a group of familiar faces that includes Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Racoon (voice), Vin Diesel as Groot (voice), Karen Gillan as Nebula, and Pom Klementieff as Mantis. Zoe Saldana, who played the Zehoberei assassin Gamora in the Guardians films, is also set to reprise her role according to IMDb. That said, it’s unclear whether she will come back as the 2014 version of Gamora (since the Gamora fans know from past Guardians films was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War).
As for Gunn, he will likely have to wrap up his work with the DCEU before he can fully focus on his MCU projects. Currently, he is working on two major DC titles: a new Suicide Squad film (which is due August 6), as well as a spin-off television series that will center on John Cena’s Peacemaker.
Needless to say, Gunn has a very busy 2021 ahead of him, and we can only hope that he encounters no major delays or setbacks due to the pandemic so that he can finish everything on schedule. After all, while fans are excited to see Gunn bring his talent to the DCEU, the wait for the final Guardians of the Galaxy chapter has been a long one.
Guardians of the Galaxy and Vol. 2 are now streaming on Disney Plus.
Source: James Gunn/Twitter
