First announced in December 2020, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has been a Marvel mystery for quite a while now. It was shot during the production of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and it's clearly a project that writer/director James Gunn is passionate about, but virtually no information was revealed about it. It's always been scheduled to be released in late 2022, but Marvel has kept mum about it.
Now, however, we have the very first trailer for the new Marvel holiday special, and it's fantastic.
In this new Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special trailer, which has been officially released by James Gunn, we learn that one of the principal plots will center on Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) trying to deliver some Christmas cheer to Peter Quill a.k.a. Star-Lord while he is missing Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Knowing that he is a fan of Footloose star Kevin Bacon, they make a special trip to Earth so that they can surprise the Guardians of the Galaxy's leader... but it turns out that the actor is less than willing to go along with them on a trip to space.
For those who don't recognize it, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special featuring Kevin Bacon is a fun callback to James Gunn's first Guardians of the Galaxy movie – which has a memorable sequence featuring Star-Lord telling Gamora about the plot of Footloose as though it is a "great legend." He further describes Kevin Bacon as a "great hero," and one has to imagine that is going to color Drax and Mantis' expectations of the guy when they make their special trip to Hollywood.
Kevin Bacon has previously shared his appreciation for the Guardians of the Galaxy callout, and it's additionally worth mentioning that the actor previously worked with James Gunn on the writer/director's 2011 film Super.
But that's not the totality of the awesomeness in this Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special trailer! Not only does it confirm that we will see the return of Cosmo The Spacedog (who will be voiced by Borat Subsequent Moviefilm's Maria Bakalova), but we also get our first official look Groot (Vin Diesel) at his latest stage of evolution:
Fans who were at the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer previously got a preview of this buffed-up version of Groot, but now everyone in the world can witness the new look (the little toy antlers are a great bonus).
Arguably even better than this trailer's arrival is the news that we don't have very long to wait before we get to see the streaming exclusive. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special now has a set November 25 release date, which means that it will be coming out in exactly one month (if you don't already have a Disney+ subscription, now is the time to activate one).
To learn more about the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, check out our Upcoming Marvel Movies and Upcoming Marvel TV guides, and plan your next big MCU rewatch with our Marvel Movies In Order feature.
