Gunn Talks "Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special" MCU Placement

Many have been wondering how the upcoming one-off Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will fit into the MCU. Those inquiries have only intensified since Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige left the project out of the SDCC presentation. Now, though, filmmaker James Gunn has clarified where the project will fall in the sprawling cinematic universe.

Specifically, Gunn confirmed on Twitter that his eccentric holiday special, which will be hitting Disney+ in December, will serve as the epilogue of sorts to the current Phase 4 of the MCU, functioning in much the same way that Spider-Man: Far From Home did for Phase 3, where it was more concerned with commenting on the events of the previous phase than on laying the groundwork for the future.

Notably, the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special arrives just weeks after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which, itself, is being set as the official end of Phase 4, and a few months before Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, the announced beginning of Phase 5. As such, the Guardians project seems perfectly poised to help audiences get closure, while also readying them for what happens next. And for his part, Gunn has been particularly effusive toward the feature, and noting that it is essential viewing for the eventual Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 stating that:

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. There’s a lot of big information in there.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will hit Disney+ around Christmas this year, though a specific airdate has yet to be announced.