By now, it's clear that Marvel Studios is sticking to its formula of interconnected storylines and plot weaving. In the case of the latest Guardians of the Galaxy projects, including the Holiday Special and Vol. 3, director James Gunn says that the former will be necessary viewing in order to understand the latter.
Speaking to Collider, Gunn revealed that both the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and Vol. 3 will commence filming at the same time this coming November, and both projects will utilize the same sets in the Georgia filming location. Regarding the Holiday Special, Gunn says that it's in-canon and all about the Guardians, so there will be some important nuggets of MCU lore that audiences will need to pick up in the side story before watching Vol. 3.
Not much has been revealed about the Holiday Special since it was announced, but we do know that it will be released on Disney Plus and has an approximate runtime of 40 minutes. The events of the festive-themed special will take place before Vol. 3, so fans can expect the two to follow a chronological order. There will also be a series of I Am Groot animated shorts to be released around the same time, though it's unclear just how linked they will be to the other two feature titles.
According to Gunn, Vol. 3 will be his last Guardians of the Galaxy film, and he's "really happy" with how it's turned out. Like the Holiday Special, not many plot details about Vol. 3 have been confirmed, but based on what audiences saw in Avengers: Endgame, fans could assume that part of the film will involve Peter Quill's quest to find the alternate-timeline Gamora. The Guardians will also have a role to play in the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder sequel, so it's likely that Vol. 3 will also have a tie-in to that storyline as well. For now, we will just have to wait and see what Gunn has in store for us.
Nowadays, audiences will have to watch multiple films and television episodes, sometimes in a particular order, to get a full overview of what's going on in the MCU. Rarely are any of the studio's latest titles are meant to stand on their own and even the ones that do still make specific references to other titles in the collection, so it can be easy to miss out on some key details or inside jokes.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is set to premiere in December 2022.
Source: Collider