James Gunn has pretty much confirmed that Zoe Saldana's Gamora will not appear in the upcoming Disney+ Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
While interacting with some fans on Twitter, the filmmaker pointed out that not all of the characters featured in a fan-made image "are even in the Holiday Special." Though Gunn doesn't mention Gamora specifically, he is almost certainly referring to the Fiercest Woman in the Galaxy.
Gunn recently shared photos of some Christmas baubles Marvel Studios presented him as a Holiday Special wrap gift, and the promo art featured Drax, Mantis, Star-Lord, Kraglin, Nebula, Rocket, a buff-looking Groot (maybe he's approaching adulthood?), and Cosmo the Space Dog. A certain Zehoberei warrior was conspicuous by her absence!
Of course, with the GOTG Holiday Special taking place between the events of Thor: Love and Thunder and Vol. 3, it does make sense that Gamora wouldn't be involved. The version of the character we met in Vol. 1 was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, and her alternate reality counterpart went on the run in Endgame. Vol. 3 is expected to focus on that Gamora forming a relationship with Nebula (Karen Gillan) and the rest of the team.
Plot details for the Holiday Special remain a mystery, but Gunn did recently reveal that "one of the greatest MCU characters of all time" (in his "incredibly subjective and admittedly often odd opinion") will make his/her debut. He'd later clarify that "more than one great new MCU character will be introduced."
At the time, there was speculation that the director might be referring to Richard Rider/Nova, but we recently learned that the space-faring hero will lead his own project, so that seems unlikely.