Posted in: Disney+, Marvel, Preview, streaming, TV | Tagged: disney, gotg, guardians of the galaxy, james gunn, marvel

James Gunn Clarifies GotG Volume 3 & Holiday Special Detail

As impressed as we are by Marvel Studios' streaming series line-up that's in play for this year and 2023 (with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law gracing our screens next week), there are two projects, in particular,  that we've been keeping an eye on. First, the upcoming Marvel Halloween Special (which will reportedly introduce "Werewolf by Night" and others to the MCU) and James Gunn's upcoming The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special for Disney+. But it's the latter that we're focusing on this time, with Gunn taking to Twitter to offer as much clarity & details as possible (who wants a holiday present spoiled?). This time around, a fan wants to know if the special will be a stand-alone adventure or set up situations for the third volume of the film franchise. "Although the Holiday Special is a standalone story, it contains a lot of fun new facts about what the Guardians have been up to for all these years," Gunn shared in a follow-up tweet.

Here's a look at Gunn's tweet offering some more details on where the special will fit in the GotG "bigger picture" timeline:

Earlier this month, a fan reached out to Gunn via Twitter with a question about where in canon the special fall with regards to Marvel Studios' MCU Phases 4 & 5. Gunn kept his answer short & sweet to clear up any confusion: "The Guardians Holiday Special is the epilogue of Phase 4" (with Santa and thumbs-up emoji). Here's a look at a screencap of the question and Gunn's response, followed by a rundown of what we know about the special so far:

Previously, Gunn emphasized that this will be a "TV special" and not a short film- and for those of you thinking "Star Wars Holiday Special," you should know that Gunn loved it when he was a kid (so did we). The concept behind the special is something that Gunn had written up as a treatment "years ago" but finished the script in April 2021. As for when the in-canon special will take place on the GotG timeline, it will be set between Thor: Love and Thunder and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. And then in an interview with Collider in support of The Suicide Squad, Gunn explained further why when it airs (and where it sits on the timeline) matters as well as first revealing his plan to film it during GotG3 filming.

"It's in-canon, it's about the Guardians, you're gonna learn stuff that you need to learn before Volume 3, and it's great I'm really happy with it," he explained. Gunn is also going to double-up on production, with the special filmed at the same time as the film. "I'm gonna film it at the same time as the movie. I'm using a lot of the same sets, the same actors obviously, so we're filming simultaneously with the film, but it's gonna have to be edited and finished sooner," Gunn revealed.

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