Top 10 Things You Missed in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
#10: An Eternal Movie Career
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In “Eternals”, we learned that Kumail Nanjiani’s Kingo had used his extended time on earth to star in films. The holiday special proved that he was still in demand after acting for decades. If you look in the background when Drax and Mantis are walking around LA, you can spot Kingo’s poster for “Haxan 3: Haxaner”. It’s unclear if this is a sequel to the 1922 horror film or not. Outside of that obscure role, a blink and you’ll miss it movie poster outside of a club reveals that Kingo is starring in a Christmas movie. We can only hope Marvel grants us a holiday miracle and releases a full movie or trailer for this Eternal’s big yuletide film.
#9: A Slew of “Suicide Squad” Shoutouts
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Since director James Gunn directed multiple DC projects with “Suicide Squad” members and a handful of Guardians stories, it made sense he’d bring the worlds together in this special. One of the most obvious connections came courtesy of the bartender Flula Borg. He appeared as the short lived Javelin in “Suicide Squad”. Gunn also shouts out Peacemaker and Harley Quinn by having their actors, John Cena and Margot Robbie respectively, appear on a Hollywood star map. The sneakiest connection comes when the police arrive to protect Kevin Bacon. Before appearing as Oficer Fitzgibbon in this special, actress Tinashe Kajese appeared in “Suicide Squad”. While she was rendered unconscious by Mantis in this special, she ironically knocked Amanda Waller out in the DC universe.
#8: Cosmo’s An Old Spacedog With New Tricks
After being teased in two “Guardians” films, Cosmo the Spacedog finally got to speak thanks to “Borat 2” actress Maria Bakalova. Although she gives the cosmic pup a youthful voice, it’s likely this canine is older than she looks. The comics indicate the Cosmo was originally sent into space sometime in the 1960s. Just like the “Fantastic Four”, some space radiation granted the dog special abilities. One of those benefits included a much longer lifespan than the typical canine. Since Cosmo will return in “Guardians 3”, we might get to hear more about the numerous decades she spent in space. She might be able to give her teammates some crucial knowledge about an old threat….if she isn’t too busy decorating Groot.
#7: A Light Reference to “Hawkeye” & Dark Callback to “Iron Man 3”
The light-hearted holiday special shares a great connection to the Christmas themed Hawkeye thanks to Kevin Bacon. While he’s fleeing from Mantis and Drax, he jumps off his balcony and slides down a tree. Hakweye himself did the same thing to get away from enemies in his series almost exactly a year before the special. Although this reference is easy to laugh at, the Guardians have a much more sobering connection to “Iron Man 3”. During Tony Stark’s third solo film, a man who exploded in front of the TCL Chinese Theater nearly took Happy’s life. The Guardians return to the scene of this dark event in much happier circumstances. But Drax does continue the history of violence there by attacking that innocent Go-Bot actor.
#6: Clever Cameos From a Lawyer & a Joker
Given that MCU earth has had a few alien invasions, we understand why humans were scared when in the special when the Bowie flew overhead. If you look closely at the frightened faces, you’ll spot Si Chen. The actor previously appeared as lawyer Barbara Wells on “She-Hulk”. While we were still debating whether they played the same character in two MCU stories, we were distracted by a huge cameo. The Ravager who was drinking something a little harder than eggnog was none other than the legendary Mark Hamill. Many viewers know him for his successful Joker career as joker and not-so-beloved stint in the “Star Wars Holiday Special”. His appearance here was definitely a clever nod to that infamous piece of sci-fi holiday history.
#5: Santa Really is a Superpowered Marvel Character
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When you first hear the funny “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is” song, all the lyrics might sound ridiculous. But Peter might want to take the lines about Santa a little more seriously. The band hints that saint nick has powers. In one Marvel story, the X-Men discovered there was a powerful mutant afoot around Christmas time. When they run into villains during their search, Santa Claus uses his abilities to warp reality and even teleport the X-men. The fact that he effortlessly used his abilities ons strong mutants like Wolverine and Storm proves he’s powerful. We can only hope Santa stays nice and never becomes the naughty version we heard about in the special’s song.
#4: Subtle Nods to Peter’s Tragic Past
There’s a pretty solid reason Peter is initially so angry about Mantis and Drax forcefully bringing Kevin Bacon to Knowhere from Earth. In “Guardians 2”, it was revealed that Yondu took a young Quill from the blue planet because it would make Star-Lord’s father Ego happy. This captured actor incident probably felt a little too close to what Peter endured. Outside of the dialogue, theres a big visual reference to Star-Lord’s origins. Bacon’s house number is 1988. That’s the exact year where Peter was abducted by Yondu and taken into space. So when Peter comforts Bacon about being displaced from earth, we know Star-Lord is being completely genuine.
#3: Kevin Has At Least Six Degrees of Superhero Connections
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It turns out the MCU can connect to multiple superhero universes through Kevin Bacon alone. Since he appeared in this special with Flula Borg and Mark Hamill, he’s one degree away from both the DCU’s “Suicide Squad” and “DCAU” Joker projects. Bacon also appeared in a short about Batman with actors like Jensen Ackles, Stephen Amell and Burt Ward. This puts the MCU two degrees from Amell’s Arrowverse, Ward’s 1960s Robin and Ackles as Soldier Boy in “the Boys” universe. But the biggest connection to another super world through Bacon comes down to the fact that he played Sebastian Shaw in X-Men “First Class”. It’s safe to say his role in that film was a bit more intimidating than he was in this special.
#2: Hints at Past & Future Guardian Storylines
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Although it seemed like Thanos slayed the Collector during “Infinity War”, the special confirmed he survived. The special resolved another “Infinity War” plot by having Rocket get the arm that he offered to pay Bucky for. Thanks to the holiday story, we know why Yondu collected trinkets in “Guardians”. But the special raised questions about Mantis and Kraglin. Even though the ravager’s been trying to command the arrow for years, will he master it before “Guardians 3”? Putting his issues aside, the reveal from Mantis that she’s Peter’s sister was heartwarming and huge. If she managed to survive Ego’s wrath, is it possible that she and Star-Lord have another sibling that will pop up in the next installment?
#1: The Holiday Special Mirrors “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”
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Kevin Bacon’s choice to watch the infamous “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” movie during the special makes a lot more sense when you compare plots of the two stories. In the 1964 film, aliens notice the young beings on their planet could use some cheer. They logically decide the best way to do this is to bring Saint Nick to Mars. Unfortunately, this puts Santa in mortal danger multiple times. Just like Saint Nick, aliens wanted to take Bacon off world to make their leader happy. The actor also feels like his life is being threatened several times. Thankfully, both narratives have happy endings where everyone ends up safe. Maybe Bacon would’ve been less stressed if he remembered how an identical story ended.
