The following contains spoilers for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, now streaming on Disney+.
Of the many gifts given and received during The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, none were larger than the new base of operations the Guardians gifted themselves: Knowhere. Although it was never explained just how and when the Guardians acquired an interstellar mining colony built inside the rotting head of a dead god, writer/director James Gunn filled in the blanks for curious fans.
While responding to a fan on Twitter, Gunn explained how the Guardians obtained enough funds to buy Knowhere and what exactly caused it to be sold. "Although the Guardians are sometimes heroes, they work as mercenaries & it brings in a fair amount of money," Gunn tweeted. "So after Thanos attacked Knowhere they bought it from the Collector. It was a burnt out husk & they’ve been rebuilding it."
Knowhere made its first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy where the criminal Tivan Group was mining it for brain tissue and other valuable organic materials. As such, intergalactic outlaws flocked to Knowhere, which soon became the headquarters for the Tivan Group's leader, the Collector. Knowhere underwent severe damage during its last appearance in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos came to claim the Reality Stone from the Collector's vault. With Knowhere now under the Guardians' control, the holiday special shows the team rebuilding it alongside locals and Cosmo the Spacedog, a former member of the Collector's "living exhibits."
The Guardians Take Over Knowhere
Had the holiday special released before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in 2017, however, Knowhere might be nowhere to be found. "The holiday special is something that I had been wanting to do before Vol. 2 was even released," Gunn revealed in a recent interview. "I brought it up to Marvel while we were in post-production on that film. That's when [Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer] Kevin [Feige] was like, 'Oh, we should actually do that.' I'm a big Christmas guy. I love all the Christmas specials that I saw as a kid and wanted to do something like that. But I also wanted to bring the anarchy of the Guardians to that."
While the holiday special featured the typical cast of previous Guardians movies, it also featured special guest Kevin Bacon. Ironically, Gunn revealed that the actor does not appreciate the holiday as much as his on-screen self. "Kevin doesn’t like Christmas. That part was hilarious to me," Gunn said. "I have Kevin showing up on set in what is supposed to be his house, and it’s filled with all these enormous inflatables. It looks like Santa Claus vomited all over the Bacon house, which looks nothing like Kevin Bacon’s house in any way."
However, ome of Bacon's true character did come through on screen. "Kevin is this super nice guy," Gunn added. "He’s so talented, so professional, so egoless and just a really kind person. That part of the character is just like him."
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is now available to stream on Disney+.
Source: Twitter