James Gunn Says The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special Is The Epilogue To Phase 4 Of The MCU
Leave it to James Gunn to cut through the fan speculation and just flat out lay his cards on the table. Since Kevin Feige revealed the timeline for the next two phases of the MCU, the super-obsessed fans have been pouring over it trying to read between the lines and anticipate surprises over the next couple of years. One of the wildcards in the mix is, of course, Gunn's upcoming "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" which is set to air this December on Disney+. Not much is known about it, but it has the full cast, and Gunn himself has said it's the greatest thing he's ever done.
"It's totally ridiculous, and every day we can't believe that we're making it. We all completely love it. It is unlike anything that anyone's ever seen before. I can't wait for people to see it."
We've been told that the "Holiday Special" is required viewing before "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," but now Gunn has clarified (via Twitter, naturally) just where this wacky holiday adventure sits in the MCU timeline thanks to Gunn's Twitter feed.
He calls the "Holiday Special" the "epilogue" of Phase 4.
When James Gunn is excited, you should be excited
The "Holiday Special" will arrive between Phase 4 ender "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and Phase 5's opening film, "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania," so calling it Phase 4's epilogue is pretty right on and at least sounds better than Phase 4.5. When the "Holiday Special" was announced, I think many fans interpreted it as a fun, minor spin-off, but Gunn has been pretty vocal about this thing being more than just a quick advertisement for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." If he's saying it's canon and that it introduces a major MCU character, then it's gotta be more than just a disposable bit of content to satiate the Disney+ subscribers.
The fact that Gunn is so giddy about it should pique everyone's interests. When that guy is excited about his work we typically end up with awesome stories we want to binge over and over, like his recent "Peacemaker" series, for example. That ended up being a ridiculous amount of fun, and in typical James Gunn fashion, paired the silly laughs with genuine emotional gut punches.
I'm not saying the "Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" is going to be Marvel's "Citizen Kane." But I am saying that, when a filmmaker like Gunn is vibrating with excitement over his own work, you know it's going to be worth your time.