‘Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’ Release Date and Trailer

What’s the saying? “Bacon makes everything better”?

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will apparently put that to the test, as evidenced by the long-awaited trailer for the Disney+ original, which also now has a release date: Black Friday aka Nov. 25.

First announced in December 2020 and written/directed by film franchise vet James Gunn, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special takes place after the events of Thor: Love and Thunder (which is now streaming on Disney+) but before the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (which will hit theaters on May 5, 2023).

As Marvel detailed this summer at the San Diego Comic-Con, Phase 4 of the MCU ends with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (in theaters Nov. 11), after which Phase 5 begins with Ant-Man 3 (out Feb. 17, 2023). Regarding the Marvel Studios Special Presentation’s premiere date relative to those delineated MCU phases, Gunn previously confirmed on Twitter, “the Guardians Holiday Special is the epilogue of Phase 4.”

Having filmed the special concurrently with Vol. 3, erstwhile Guardians Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan and Pom Klementieff all reprise their respective film roles, as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Groot, Rocket, Nebula and Mantis.

But the trailer above also reveals a very special guest star, one who just might make a downtrodden Peter Quill feel footloose and fancy-free again.

The roughly 40-minute Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has been described by Gunn as “crazy and fun as can be,” and the storyline reportedly also includes a trip to Groot’s home world, Planet X.

Gunn also reiterated that the special is a “must watch” ahead of the third Guardians film. “Absolutely,” he assured a fan. “There’s a lot of big information in there.”

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