After briefly parting ways with Disney, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn made the leap to Warner Bros. to develop both The Suicide Squad and Peacemaker.
While the former's box office success was limited by the studio's decision to release it on HBO Max at the same time as in theaters, it was a critical smash. Peacemaker, meanwhile, was also a hit, and arguably remains the best DC TV show we've seen in a very long time.
Gunn made his Marvel Studios return to helm both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, with the latter arriving on Disney+ today. Once the movie is released next May, the filmmaker's relationship with Marvel Studios will once again end when he returns to Warner Bros. to take charge of DC Studios and the DCU.
The director has already brought a Peacemaker star into the MCU by casting Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and an actor from The Suicide Squad also showed up in the Holiday Special!
You may have missed him, but Javelin actor Flula Borg plays the bartender who serves Mantis and Drax when they visit Earth. It's a minor cameo role, but a fun moment for those who remember his gory demise when Task Force X returned to our screens last year.
We'd love to know what led to this cameo happening, though we have to assume it was just a chance for Gunn to spend some time with one of his friends on the set of this Christmastime tale.
"A seasonal showpiece for the amazing Pom Klementieff as Mantis, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is James Gunn’s Marvel masterstroke, and the best Holiday Special ever made," we said in our review of the second Marvel Studios Special Presentation. "A merry Marvel Christmas miracle, it doesn’t get any better than this."
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now streaming on Disney+.
About The Author:
Comic Book Reader. Film Lover. WWE and F1 Fan. Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and ComicBookMovie.com's #1 contributor.