Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

[Frontier]

You can't be an established franchise long enough without a Christmas special or two!

I was not expecting the animated intro with more photorealistic young Peter, Kraglin, and even Yondu! It was nice to see him again and to hear Michael Rooker once more, even if the segment had Yondu ruin Peter's Christmas (because he was still kind of a dick despite his Vol. 2 redemption) and be the Scrooge of the story...but that made the full circle resolution between the two truly Christmas worthy.

The Collector sold the Guardians Knowhere? The Collector owned Nowhere? How much money did the team need to have to get this? I guess it's fitting in the sense that Knowhere was the Guardians' base of operations in the comics, but I guess they're just running it now? All the shops and such? Feels a tad outside their wheelhouse.

It was nice to see Cosmo finally talking and using TK, yet after growing up with Cosmo being male and having this thick, husky, older Russian voice...it's so weird hearing Cosmo with a high-pitched cute girl voice. Not to mention Cosmo was basically in charge of Knowhere and now Cosmo is...working for Rocket. Feels like anime Cosmo.

They addressed Peter missing Gamora, but what about the other Guardians? Do they care at all? I mean, they were with her as long as he was. I guess Nebula would just be content knowing her sister is alive.

So...college frat bro Groot? Jock Groot? It is kind of funny how much of a 180 it is from the last version of Groot we saw. All the same, we've still got what might be the Final Form of Groot coming in Vol. 3, I would imagine.

This special definitely felt like it was trying to make up for Mantis being the least underdeveloped and least focused on member of the team, even in her own debut movie. I mean, I'm not the biggest fan of the MCU interpretation of Mantis or how Gunn decided to adapt her (feels like they could've done more with an Asian hero), but I guess she did need some actual, legitimate, focus and screentime if she's going to be a legitimate part of this team.

Also she's Peter's half-sister, which I guess makes sense in the context of why she was with Ego in the first place but it feels really late in the game to just be introducing this now, especially if it's just to make Mantis feel more important. Although I guess it was in the spirit of the season to add a family dynamic to the proceedings (even if the team are already a found family). If they actually play this up more in Vol. 3 I think it'll feel like it was worth introducing (rather than go the way of Hela). I guess it's also just weird to me knowing that Peter has a completely different half-sister in the comics and I low-key shipped Peter and Mantis in the comics during the DnA run.

It is very Guardians to focus on the two members of the team who share a single braincell between the two of them.

I'm not sure I'm feeling the Bowie over the Milano. It feels a tad too extra and bulky compared to how sleek the Milano was.

"STEVE!" Honestly my immediate takeaway from that moment was "how much off-screen interaction did Steve Rogers have with the Guardians?"

The Go-Bots? Can they get away with that? I mean, Zorro's one thing (Disney+ is doing their own Zorro anyways) but I guess Marvel and Hasbro are tight enough? Wait, does Hasbro even own the Go-Bots right now.

Did Mantis and Drax walk into a gay bar...? Also, here's Flula Borg because Gunn loves crossovering people he works with.

So...Mantis just straight up used her powers to steal and rob a woman. And this is before kidnapping Kevin Bacon and basically assaulting law enforcement. I guess the early years Guardians rubbed off on her or she proved why she was a fit for this team in the first place.

Kevin Bacon really was a good sport at everything and a perfect fit for a celebrity actually playing themselves in a Superhero production.

Kyra Sedgwick voice cameo everybody! Did you know she voiced Lois Lane in the Justice League: New Frontier animated movie?

Oh, so now they introduce Mantis' martial arts skills from the comic. It would've been nice to see this a little beforehand or at least set it up instead of her just having "touch people and something happens" powers for so long. Kind of sucks she wasn't using it on bad guys...because she was technically the bad guy here.

You kind of understand why Damage Control exists when you see what regular enhanced individuals do to local law enforcement. Y'know what Hollywood needs? A proper Superhero! Maybe even a Wonder Man.

Okay, so Batman exists in the MCU, I assume as a fictional character. Is this like the opposite of the Arrowverse where the MCU exists as actual movies or pieces of entertainment where DC is the main comic publisher and movie presence in the MCU?

It's funny how Peter has grown into being the member of the team with the most level-head and common sense. I mean, I guess he was always kind of the latter (at least when Gamora wasn't), but it's still funny.

"The Greatest Hero Ever." Um...okay, Peter helped stop Ronan and stopped Ego, and he was involved with stopping Thanos...but knowing he's partially responsible for Thanos Snapping the first time and didn't really contribute anything meaningful to the Endgame fight, not sure he deserves the title.

Can't beat a Kevin Bacon Christmas song performance! All that presentation the team put up paid off and everyone ended up getting into the Christmas spirit! Even Yondu in flashback form!

So...Bucky gave up an arm for Rocket, right? Nebula didn't just steal one of his arms?

[j9ac9k]

"STEVE!" Honestly my immediate takeaway from that moment was "how much off-screen interaction did Steve Rogers have with the Guardians?"

That crossed my mind too, but I didn't want to get distracted by the math while I was watching. Thinking about it now, considering Mantis was snapped, and Steve left soon after their victory, there's only a small window when they could have met. I'm going to imagine Tony's wake must've been one hell of a big wake/victory party! (that's what I will chose to think) So that could have been when they all had interactions to various degrees of significance.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

Mantis also has a very child-like (compared to Earth-human standards) mentality, and it’s not a big shocker to me she’d get excited over re-acquainting with someone she knows and hasn’t seen a while.

Overall this bored me and the original music felt overdone.

[ChrisIII]

Maybe Thor filled her in on Steve's adventures. (Although he was absent for a few).

[StickMin]

Mantis also has a very child-like (compared to Earth-human standards) mentality, and it’s not a big shocker to me she’d get excited over re-acquainting with someone she knows and hasn’t seen a while.

Overall this bored me and the original music felt overdone.

There were like two original songs in the movie.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

There were like two original songs in the movie.

Ok?

/10char

[BeastieRunner]

I laughed my butt off at the gift giving scenes.

I hope we keep getting specials like this and Werewolf By Night.

[Kirby101]

Too much fun.

[babyblob]

I really enjoyed it. A bit goofy and fun. It was a hit for me. And I hope we keep getting more specials.

It would be great to get a Marvel Special set in Rutland.

[StickMin]

Ok?

/10char

I just question how they could be overdoing it, but only had two songs.
Just feels like a reach to find a criticism.

[krazijoe]

I liked it! Very funny and lots of little easter eggs. A fun way to spend 45 minutes.

[Scott Taylor]

Pretty fun and airy special, not to be taken very seriously. My favorite part was the whole part with Christmas song that alien band played for Quill.

Also, this got me into a holiday mood and I am now rewatching Hawkeye as a result.

[Bunch of Coconuts]

I just question how they could be overdoing it, but only had two songs.
Just feels like a reach to find a criticism.

It’s probably because I didn’t particularly enjoy the songs.

[BeastieRunner]

I really enjoyed it. A bit goofy and fun. It was a hit for me. And I hope we keep getting more specials.

It would be great to get a Marvel Special set in Rutland.

Makes me hopeful we get Arcade and Murderworld someday.

[kidfresh512]

X-Men or Fantastic 4 would be an excellent Christmas special when we finally get to them too.