James Gunn Explains The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special's Most Unexpected Cameo

By Nicole Drum

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+, but the Marvel Studios Special Presentation isn't just bringing hilarious holiday cheer. The special is also serving up some clever moments including a truly unexpected cameo and now, filmmaker James Gunn is explaining how that moment he's declaring to be "canon" came to be, much to fan delight. Warning: spoilers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special beyond this point.

In The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) head to Earth on a mission to get Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) a very special Christmas gift — guy's been having a hard time with the Gamora of it all. The Christmas mission sees Drax and Mantis trying to get Kevin Bacon for Peter and that takes them outside the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood where they encounter several people dressed up in costumes — including someone dressed as the leader of the GoBots, CyKill. Drax doesn't take this well, which prompts Mantis to explain that "GoBots killed his cousin."

Two things happen in this moment. The first is that the line of dialogue seems to confirm that the GoBots are real in the MCU and not just iconic toys from the 1980s as they are in the real world. The second is that it's a great GoBots cameo and on Twitter, a fan asked if Gunn had to license GoBots from Hasbro for the hilarious moment. Gunn explained that Hasbro was kind enough to agree to let him use CyKill.

"I chose from the ones available to us, either public domain or Disney or in the case of GoBots, Hasbro being very nice to let us use CyKill," Gunn explained when asked about the decision as to which cosplayers would appear in the scene. He also explained the reason he chose GoBots instead of another character.

"No. GoBots was used because I thought it was funnier!" he explained.

Is The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Required Viewing For Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

During a recent interview with ComicBook.com's Phase Zero host Brandon Davis, Gunn was asked if the holiday special is required viewing before the movie.

"Well, I'm always trying to be balanced with these things, so I think it's wonderful," Gunn explained. "People should see the Holiday Special. You're obviously gonna learn a lot about where the Guardians have been in the past few years. You know, you're gonna see how they now inhabit Knowhere. They've got a new ship called the Bowie. They've got a dog [who] is part of their crew now who has telekinesis named Cosmo. So, where you get to learn all that, and then there's a couple of bigger pieces of spoiler-y lore. You're gonna learn all of those things. In a way, the Holiday Special was a Trojan Horse for me to sneak in stuff that becomes important in Volume 3, so I don't have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of that movie explaining it."

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+ while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. is set to be released in theaters on May 23, 2023.

What do you think about the GoBots cameo in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!

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