While The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special garnered acclaim, some fans were still left scratching their heads about the live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe one-off's inclusion of an old-fashioned animated sequence, which director James Gunn now addresses.Gunn, who wrote and directed the special, answered a fan's question on Twitter about his choice to go with animation for a Christmas-set flashback segment featuring a young Peter Quill/Starlord (voiced by Luke Klein), Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Kraglin (Sean Gunn). Besides the advantage of being able to depict a child version of star Chris Pratt's franchise protagonist, the animated segment apparently scratched a stylistic itch for the director. "I wanted to do the Star Wars Holiday Special but done right (no offense [Mark Hamill], etc)," he explained. "I LIKED the idea of the music & the mixed media & the off-the-rails nature but not necessarily the way everything was assembled."
The Original Young Peter Quill
However, not one to forget former cast members, Gunn concluded his thoughts on the special's Young Peter Quill scene with a call-out to Wyatt Oleff, the actor who played the young version in live-action form in the Guardians of the Galaxy films' flashback scenes. "Also, [Wyatt] will always be young Peter to me," he stated. Indeed, Oleff played Young Peter Quill in the 2014 first film and reprised the role in 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. However, it remains to be seen if he will return for the upcoming Vol. 3.
Of course, the topic of holiday specials in the encompassing genre of sci-fi will immediately evoke thoughts of the aforementioned Star Wars Holiday Special. That notorious program aired on CBS on Nov. 17, 1978 for a two-hour block of television that is overwhelmingly considered corny, bizarre and cringe-worthy. While it similarly centered on a live-action story featuring the film cast, it took detours to unconnected animated segments and musical performances. Notably, the animated short titled "The Story of the Faithful Wookie" introduced Boba Fett to the franchise, preceding his live-action debut (played by Jeremy Bulloch) in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back. Yet, the animated style of the Guardians special's segments arguably resembled animated directorial legend Ralph Bakshi while showcasing a cuteness and innocence appropriate to the holiday motif.
Guardians of the Galaxy's Mark Hamill Rumor
Pertinently, the perceived connectivity of the two specials led to rumors that Star Wars' Mark Hamill would make a cameo with the Guardians as Santa Claus himself, no less. Upon The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special's Nov. 25 premiere, the rumors escalated to a case of confirmation bias when eagle-eyed viewers spotted an actor resembling Hamill, depicted drinking liquor straight from the bottle. However, the actor's son, Nathan Hamill, chimed in on Twitter to debunk the notion, revealing the individual to be a double. "This is my friend Troy Beecham," he clarified.
Interestingly enough, while the setting of the animated segments in question is quite clear, there was some confusion about the setting of the special's main live-action story, in which Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) team up to abduct actor Kevin Bacon (who plays himself) to deliver to a depressed Quill (who has long idolized his role in Footloose) as a Christmas present. However, Marvel would officially confirm that it takes place just after the MCU events of the preceding "Special Presentation" offering, Werewolf by Night.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is streaming on Disney+ right now. The MCU story will continue when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.
Source: Twitter