Kevin Bacon Loved Playing Himself For The GOTG Holiday Special

Kevin Bacon enjoyed his cameo appearance in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The second Special Presentation released by Marvel Studios, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special was the first project to be pitched for the Disney+ side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The special is directed by James Gunn and features most of the Guardians of the Galaxy crew, including Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Vin Diesel as Groot while also bringing back familiar faces such as Michael Rooker. Set to premiere November 25, the special will serve as a check-in with the Guardians prior to their trilogy finisher, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which will debut next year.

In addition to featuring a large returning cast, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special trailer featured some intriguing cameos, with Kevin Bacon serving as the most prominent. Bacon's appearance will pay off a franchise joke that dates back to 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. Drax and Mantis remember Peter's reverence for the actor and seek to kidnap him in order to cheer up their friend. As such, Bacon will be portraying himself in the Guardians of the Galaxy special, which he expresses great enthusiasm for during a conversation with Entertainment Tonight. See what he has to say about the cameo appearance below:

"I've been researching this role for 64 years now. I've done quite a few things where I played myself, both in films, but also in commercial spots and stuff like that. And I take my work really, really seriously, but I don't take myself really, really seriously. So to be able to poke fun at yourself... it's just a blast. I love this kind of heightened idea of what my life is and like, for instance, the house that I have, I can guarantee you that my house doesn't look anything like that house."

Bacon's GOTG Role Takes MCU Cameos To A New Level

Over the years, the MCU has boasted many high-level cameos, which have only grown in number and prestige since the franchise expanded into Disney+ projects. Of course, the most revered cameos across the MCU were the late comics author Stan Lee's famed appearances in each of the franchise's films. Though the writer portrayed a different character in each cameo, a particularly meta Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cameo where he portrayed a Watcher Informant showed that those characters were all connected. Aside from Lee, cameos in the MCU have ranged from well-known actors to characters from other properties appearing in unexpected films or series, like Daredevil (Charlie Cox) showing up in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

A recent pop culture-centric cameo came with Megan Thee Stallion's appearance on She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, which also featured appearances from Abomination (Tim Roth) and Daredevil. The rapper's cameo was unique within the MCU since she was portraying herself as a character and showed up in multiple scenes. Prior to that, celebrities cameo-ing as themselves in the MCU, such as David Hasselhoff in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, appeared in more fleeting moments. Bacon's apparently central role in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will elevate that concept further.

In addition, Bacon's appearance in the MCU will work on multiple levels, validating the franchise's continuity due to the many references to him over the course of the Guardians' appearances in the MCU. It could also potentially offer an opportunity for character development from Peter. Since cameos often function as jokes that the audience is in on, and Bacon is certainly leaning into that portrayal based on his comments, they don't always end up being integral to the plot. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special has the potential to integrate the actor's appearance into the narrative in a more meaningful way while maintaining the humor associated with a celebrity playing themselves, though it remains to be seen whether the special does so.

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Source: ET Online