While Marvel Studios has finished its run of episodic series for the year, there’s still one more streaming project left to debut in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. This will mark the MCU’s second Special Presentation after Michael Giacchino’s Werewolf by Night debuted in October, and it will be the first to follow up on already-established MCU heroes.
Even though the special is confirmed to release before the end of 2022, fans haven't seen much in terms of marketing for the project with two months remaining in the year. But this follows the same trend as Werewolf by Night, whose first trailer didn't premiere to the public until the D23 Fan Expo, which was less than a month before it arrived in full on Disney+.
At the end of September, the Guardians Holiday Special got its own line of Christmas-themed Funko Pops!, showing the galaxy's favorite bunch of misfits donning Santa hats and colorful presents rather than their usual garb and weaponry. And now, with the holiday season only mere weeks away, fans may have an idea of when to expect the Guardians' jolly adventure.
Guardians Holiday Special Release Date Revealed?
Update: The first trailer for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which can be watched here, confirmed that it'll premiere on Friday, November 25.
A listing from Disney+ Japan, via a post on the Marvel Studios Spoilers Reddit page, might have revealed the release date for the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.
The posting listed two unknown episodes of Marvel Studios: Legends set to release on November 23, seemingly indicating that the GOTG Holiday Special will debut shortly after.
Typically, Marvel Studios: Legends episodes have debuted a week prior to their respective project’s premiere. This trend started with WandaVision, which premiered its Legends episodes on January 8, 2021, ahead of the show's Disney+ launch on January 15, 2021.
This has continued all the way through Phase 4, with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Legends episodes set to release on November 4, a week before the film's world premiere on November 11.
There have been some exceptions to the rule though, such as Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ Legends episodes dropping the same week as their theatrical debut.
This could mean that the Holiday Special's premiere date could be as early as November 25, the Friday following the Legends episodes' release.
When Will Guardians Holiday Special Arrive?
With the Guardians' Holiday Special having been announced nearly two years ago, anticipation has been high to see what Marvel Studios would do with the team in a streaming setting. And now, as 2022 draws to a close, the time has finally come to get the answers to those questions.
Should this leak prove to be true, Marvel fans will likely only have a few weeks until they dive back into the MCU alongside the Guardians for the final Marvel Studios release of the year. Additionally, this should also mean that fans aren't far away from getting their first look at what Marvel Studios has been working on to bring this Holiday Special to life.
If the project does release in late November or early December, and if it follows the same trend as Werewolf by Night, the team should be quite close to releasing the first look at what's in store for the characters on this Holiday-themed adventure. And considering that this special will get the entire team into the holiday spirit, even including Cosmo the Space Dog in that group, MCU fans are eager to see what's in store for the MCU's first dive into Christmas.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will debut on Disney+ before the end of 2022.
