This story contains spoilers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Nothing major, but if you want to remain unspoiled, go read one of our other incredible stories.
The Marvel Special Presentations that are available to people with a Disney+ subscription are allowing the MCU to expand on corners of its world while also filling in gaps of Marvel mythology. The shorts featured in I Am Groot show the tree creature growing up and dealing with various issues. Michael Giacchino’s Werewolf By Night recreated the 1940s Creature Feature while also introducing Man-Thing and opening the door to monsters in the MCU. And now, in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, creator James Gunn is revealing a secret he has had Pom Klementieff sitting on since the moment she accepted the role of Mantis.
There has been speculation in the MCU community that Mantis might be the sister of Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), because their shared “father,” Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell) had children with women all over the galaxy in hopes of finding an heir that could access the Celestial power the way that Star-Lord could. At one point, when Ego was laying out his plans, there was a mural of all of the women that Ego had impregnated. And fans noticed that one of them definitely looked like Mantis.
Now, as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) is letting the cat out of the bag, confessing to Peter (Chris Pratt) that they are brother and sister as the special draws to a close. So when we spoke with Klementieff as part of a recent press day, I asked her how long she knew this secret. As it turns out, she’s known since day one. She said:
James Gunn told me very early on. I think even when I was cast. So it was a secret that I had to hold for a long time. So it’s nice that it’s finally going to be out. It was actually supposed to be revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and then (Gunn) decided to keep it for later, for the holiday special.
This was kept out of the trailer for the Guardians Holiday Special, but is bound to start making the rounds once the MCU Special Presentation drops on Disney+. The focus up to this point has been on the inclusion of Kevin Bacon, and rightfully so. The Footloose star has been a childhood hero of Peter Quill, so making him an official character in the MCU is brilliant. But he’s not the only major reveal waiting for fans in the upcoming holiday special, so make sure you watch it, if you happened to read this far and haven’t yet checked it out on Disney+.
