Director James Gunn says he plans to introduce one of the greatest MCU characters of all time in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Gunn is currently prepping to film both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as the Holiday Special, which will shoot back-to-back. Gunn recently finished The Suicide Squad for Warner Bros., a pseudo-sequel to David Ayer's 2016 Suicide Squad, albeit with an R-rating. The film underperformed at the box office but was well received by critics and fans.

Disney originally fired Gunn prior to starting Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in the wake of some old tweets resurfacing. The director then went over to WB to direct The Suicide Squad before being rehired by Disney. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is finally back on track to be released in 2023, with Gunn deep into pre-production on the film. Gunn is also preparing to release a Peacemaker series on HBO Max, focusing on John Cena's character from The Suicide Squad, so the director has his hands firmly planted in both Marvel and DC projects at the moment. The director announced his Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in December of 2020, which is set to be released on Disney+ in December of 2022.

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While doing a few Q&A's on Twitter, Gunn was asked if he'd be introducing any new characters in the special, similar to when Boba Fett appeared in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special prior to appearing in The Empire Strikes Back. Gunn said that in his "incredibly subjective & admittedly often odd opinion," that he would be "introducing one of the greatest MCU characters of all time." Check out his tweet below:

Plot details for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special are unknown at this time. Gunn has said that it will lead directly into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, so it doesn't appear to be a simple stand-alone story. The same is true of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, in terms of how much is known about the story, although Gunn has hinted in the past that it would focus on Rocket Racoon's origin to some degree (or possible death). Gunn has teased that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be "huge" and star Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, says it will be a "bittersweet" ending to the series.

The big question, of course, is who this mystery character could be. With Gunn's sense of humor, it could possibly be an obscure or silly character that's more humorous or off-the-wall than a bonafide "great" character. There's still a trove of characters from the MCU that have yet to get their due, and with Marvel regaining the rights to their X-Men universe, it is even more possible that it could be someone special. However, Gunn famously set up Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and that payoff has yet to come. Gunn does like to keep people guessing, and he's done a good job of keeping surprises under wraps and debunking wacky theories, so fans will just have to wait to unwrap the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special in 2022 to see what gift the director has in store.

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Source: James Gunn