The 'Guardians' Holiday Special Might Have a Strange 'Thunderbolts' Connection

Spoilers follow for Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

The Guardians on the Galaxy have just reunited on Disney+ for a special festive adventure, with Nebula, Groot, Rocket, Drax and Mantis setting out to restore Star-Lord's Christmas spirit after the continued absence of Gamora starts to get him down. While what follows is largely a self-contained story, this is still Marvel, so there are plenty of fun Easter eggs—and director James Gunn has seemingly just confirmed that everything that happens to in the holiday special is canon, which could have some interesting implications for the next phase of the MCU.

In one of the special's closing scenes, Nebula gives Rocket his Christmas present: Bucky Barnes' vibranium arm. This is, of course, a callback to Avengers: Infinity War, during which Rocket expresses keen interest in acquiring the Winter Soldier's metal prosthetic. Considered a throwaway joke at the time, the fact that Rocket's wish has now been fulfilled may well lead into Bucky's next on-screen appearance.

Following the events of the Disney+ series The Falcon & The Winter Soldier, Bucky is next slated to show up in the ensemble movie Thunderbolts, in which many of the MCU's previous antagonists and antiheroes form their own team. These include Florence Pugh as Yelena, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, and Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster.

So unless the Wakandans happened to give Bucky a spare, it's likely he will have to seek out Rocket and take back his metal arm at some point, meaning we could be getting a Guardians cameo in this movie along the lines of what we saw in the opening scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder.

And for any fans who are complaining that Nebula wouldn't be able to take Bucky in a fight, and that this moment is a sign of some kind of feminist agenda at Marvel... Gunn himself has stated on Twitter that a cybernetically enhanced alien would be more than capable of separating Bucky from his appendages, just like the Dora Milaje before her.

You Might Also Like

• The 16 Best Men's Gifts From Oprah's Favorite Things 2022

• The Best Hair Growth Shampoos for Men to Buy Now

• 25 Vegetables That Are Surprising Sources of Protein