James Gunn says Guardians Holiday Special is “greatest thing I’ve ever done”
Exclusive: The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special comes to Disney Plus this December – and it’s “totally ridiculous”, according to its director.
While Marvel fans have had a long wait to get a follow-up to 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, this year they’ll see them in plenty of action. First up, the characters are set to cameo in Thor: Love and Thunder, and later this year they’ll get festive in Disney Plus one-off The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
And according to writer/director James Gunn (who’s currently shooting the project, followed by Vol 3 some time soon), this Yuletide adventure may be one of the most memorable outings for the characters yet.
“The Holiday Special is the greatest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Gunn told RadioTimes.com.
“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.
“And it’s out pretty soon,” he added. “You know, it’s out this Christmas. It’s not like people have to wait that long.”
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For Gunn, the special will mark quite the reunion more than five years after he last directed the Guardians cast, which includes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan and Dave Bautista as the spacefaring heroes-for-hire trying to do good across the galaxy.
Since then, Gunn was briefly removed from the Guardians franchise after old, offensive tweets he’d written resurfaced, leading him to work with DC on The Suicide Squad, as well as various DC character spin-offs starting with Peacemaker (which has recently started on UK television via Sky and NOW). He was later reinstated on the Guardians sequel.
“Things are insane right now,” Gunn told us. “I can’t believe it. I’m getting to do all this wonderful stuff, and I’m really grateful to the people that have been facilitating that.
“The people at HBO Max have just been incredible, and are really just protectors of the creative process. And that’s been a wonderful situation to be in.”
He added: “As somebody who’s been doing this professionally for 30 years almost, there is a family feeling about a television show that I get. And I have that with my Guardians, but I only get to see them every two-and-a-half years, you know?
“I mean, I see Chris all the time and stuff like that. But the workplace – I really like the more workplace feeling of a TV show.”
If these final projects do mark the end of Gunn’s movie journey with the Guardians – and more of a shift to TV in general – then from the sounds of it, the franchise is going out with a bang. And not just from a couple of deep-space Christmas crackers.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special comes out this December on Disney Plus. Meanwhile, Peacemaker is currently airing on Sky and streaming on NOW. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.
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