It's the most wonderful time of the year. No, it's not quite Christmas time yet, but it is time for new Marvel Cinematic Universe releases. Thanks to Disney+, these occurrences are happening more often each year, which is sure to please all the good little True Believers across the multiverse. However, the latest Marvel Studios Special Presentation is still sure to put everyone in the holiday spirit because, with a month to go until its release, Disney+ has unveiled the first trailer for "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special."

Following the events of "Avengers: Endgame" and "Thor: Love and Thunder," Star-Lord finally has time to let Gamora's fate sink in. Though there is another version of Zoe Saldana's character from a different timeline out there in the galaxy right now, the fact that the "original" one from the Sacred Timeline was sacrificed to complete Thanos' Infinity Gauntlet is causing Chris Pratt's Peter Quill to have a blue Christmas. Since the crew of the Benatar is determined to make sure that doesn't happen, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) lead the charge to get their captain the perfect Christmas present ever. And as the headline says, yep, that would be Kevin Bacon.

Of course, the legendary actor from iconic films such as "National Lampoon's Animal House," "Footloose," "Tremors," and "Diner" isn't the only noteworthy guest on the list for the Guardians' holiday celebration. So let's dig a little bit deeper into the holly, jolly preview with a patented /Film trailer breakdown.

Almost Paradise

Before they take off on a full-fledged cinematic adventure in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," the team of Star-Lord, Mantis, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, and Nebula are taking a break to celebrate the holidays on Disney+. As a self-proclaimed fan of the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special," fan favorite filmmaker James Gunn has said that this project is the "greatest thing" he's ever done. He even teased that his new favorite MCU character would be a part of the proceedings. Well, it turns out, as confirmed by Gunn himself on Twitter, that character is actually Kevin Bacon.

While this may seem like a random inclusion, the actor actually does have a history with the Guardians of the Galaxy. In their first film from 2014, Star-Lord tells Gamora of an Earth legend called "Footloose" where "a great hero named Kevin Bacon teaches an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that dancing is the greatest thing there is." This great hero gets name-dropped once again in "Avengers: Infinity War" when the Guardians cross paths with Thor. The Asgardian Avenger tells them of Thanos' latest whereabouts and Earth's Mightiest Heroes' attempts at stopping him. But when Mantis asks if Bacon is one of the heroes Odinson mentioned, he says, "He may be on the team. I don't know, I haven't been there in a while."

To get this cameo to happen, Gunn likely called in a favor from Bacon after they worked together on "Super," the 2010 dark comedy starring Rainn Wilson and Elliot Page. But Bacon has gone on record saying that he was pleasantly surprised to hear his name uttered by the heroes of the MCU, so he was probably more than happy to join them on an adventure.

Such A Good Puppy

In addition to Kevin Bacon, the Guardians will be joined by their friends Kraglin (who took over as the leader of the Ravagers after Yondu's death) and Cosmo the Spacedog. We first learned about their involvement back in April when a set of ornaments that were given as wrap gifts from the upcoming special surfaced online. They were adorned with festive depictions of each member of the team (including a more jacked Young Adult Groot), as well as Sean Gunn's character and the canine cosmonaut that we haven't seen since they were a part of The Collector's collection in the first "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Well, technically, the pup can be seen in the credits of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and in the queue for "Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout" at Avengers Campus in Disney's California Adventure, but the Disney Parks hold a different universe designation than the MCU films and TV shows.

Regardless, I don't think that anyone will be complaining about an appearance by Cosmo, who is now voiced by "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" breakout star Maria Bakalova.

Happy Christmas To All And To All A Good Night

In the pages of Marvel Comics, Cosmo becomes the security chief of Knowhere after getting lost in space and gaining psionic abilities due to being mutated by cosmic rays. Since the comic counterparts of the Guardians operated out of Knowhere for a time, Cosmo would constantly join the team on their adventures. Considering Baklava's name recognition, this appearance could be the beginning of an expanded role in the MCU for the character.

Now, the stockings have been hung on the chimney with care, and we've adequately speculated about what we've seen in the first trailer for the next Marvel Studios Special Presentation. Go and enjoy the visions of sugar plums dancing in your heads until you can unwrap "The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special" on Disney+ on November 25, 2022.

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