Guardians of the Galaxy 3: Not Every Member of Team Will Appear in Disney+ Holiday Special

Even though this winter’s Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a must-watch program before tuning into next May’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, not every member of the eponymous band of cosmic heroes will be appearing in the Disney+ special. Monday, Guardians helmer James Gunn took to Twitter as he routinely does to answer fan questions. It was in the batch of questions the director revealed plenty of details about the special, alluding to an incomplete ensemble for the holidays.

“The above is not an official image, it’s fan-made,” Gunn said in response to a fan. “Not all of those characters are even in the Holiday Special. It takes place between Thor 4 & Vol. 3.” The characters in the image being shared include Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), Drax (Dave Bautista), Baby Groot (Vin Diesel), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff).

The above is not an official image, it’s fan-made. Not all of those characters are even in the Holiday special. It takes place between Thor 4 & Vol 3. https://t.co/1cztR2R35g

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 16, 2022

In a separate tweet, Gunn confirmed the special will not have a comparable run time to that of Marvel’s feature films, and is most certainly canon.

“It’s a TV special (not a feature length film) on Disney+,” the filmmaker added. “It’s part of MCU canon, and contains some important new elements in the Guardians’ story.”

In that same thread, Gunn also confirmed the special will have its own soundtrack, and its own score. The reiteration of the special being canon isn’t new news, with Gunn confirming its continuity shortly after it was announced in 2020.

“Yes, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is real,” Gunn tweeted at the time. “It’s something that Marvel Studios and I have been cooking up for years. The story is as crazy and fun as can be, and it’s live-action and in the MCU. OH MAN I WISH I COULD TELL YOU MORE!”

The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies are now streaming on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is due to hit theaters May 5, 2023. I Am Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special have yet to receive release dates.

What members of the Guardians would you like to see spin-off shows of? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!