When die hard fans of anything hear the words ‘Holiday Special’ it often evokes a sense of dread, given what happened with Star Wars, there is good reason to be worried. Coming into the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special though, I was cautiously optimistic as the series director James Gunn, has managed to make two enjoyable things so far for Marvel and of course DC. I just wanted to know if this additional story still bring plenty of cheer?

It is important to understand that while this is technically part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you are not going to be seeing any appearances from other characters, or even have to have watched all the other movies to understand what is going on. The special opens with Kraglin giving the backstory on why Christmas was ruined for Peter, with Yondu refusing to accept anything that could be considered a gift. As the Earth calendar is approaching the holiday season and with Peter still missing Gamora, Mantis and Drax decide to do something nice. Heading to Earth in their new ship, called Bowie, as in David Bowie, they agree that the best thing that would make Peter happiest would be Kevin Bacon. Of course, given the lack of understanding on everything Earth related, the pair get into a lot of situations that let them use their abilities in fun ways, Mantis especially gets a chance to shine. I won’t say any more on those, as it is really worth watching to see how things play out, but needless to say, you won’t be let down.

While this is called the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, it is really the Drax and Mantis show, with both Dave Bautista and Pom Klementieff doing the heavy work here. Bautista has managed to add more depth to Drax, giving him a few lessons along the way, but they have also cut back on that random weirdness that Guardians 2 had, he still doesn’t understand social queues though. It is really Klementieff that is the star, what started out as a background character in Guardians 2 and really didn’t do much of anything in Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame, now plays a grander role. What was fun to see was the dynamic between the two, with Drax being ever so simple and Mantis doing all they can to stick on mission, it finally let them both be more than one dimensional beings. The special also introduces Cosmo the Spacedog and puts them alongside Rocket for a few fun moments, but the character isn’t really used much, just nice to see them out of their box.

As this is a James Gunn production, music plays a big part in it, as you might expect and while some of the songs will be deep cuts from the world of Christmas music, there is one song you will have never heard of before. The opening credits has a song played out, giving a new spin on what Christmas can be to those who don’t understand it, though I did get some Weird Al vibes from it. The ending song plays out much the same, but it rather feels appropriate for how the story plays out.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is a blast, it is fun, heart-warming and just what we need at this time of year. While the name is a bit of a misnomer, the cast still brings a flare to things and while it could have easily been something that was phoned in, everything about it feels authentic. The music is great, the comedy is funny and the message is on point, this is a holiday special that really feels special and perhaps even a little magical.