YMMV / The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

• Adorkable:
  • Nebula spent most of her life as a rage-fueled killing machine, so seeing her dancing with a blank expression on her face and shyly giving Rocket a Christmas present is pretty odd but cute.
  • Mantis comes off as dorky when she enthusiastically dances at the club or when she tries to hug someone dressed as Captain America.
• Fanfic Fuel:
  • In the map montage, Drax and Mantis passed by John Cena. One can only imagine Cena looking at Drax and questioning why he's so similar to a wrestler he's fought in the past.
  • For that matter, they pass Arnold Schwarzenegger. Imagine if they arrive when he's sitting down to a family gathering and his son-in-law looks suspiciously like Peter!
  • GoBots are canon and they killed Drax's cousin. Go nuts.^note While Hasbro does own the GoBots after acquiring Tonka, the movie rights owned by Paramount (after they acquired Dreamworks) only extend to the Transformers.
  • At the end, Kevin waves farewell and says he'll see them at Easter, so now imagine what hijinks will happen when Quill describes Easter to Knowhere.
• I Knew It!: It wasn't hard for fans to suspect all the way back in Vol. 2 that Mantis' association with Ego was also as one of his daughters, thus making her Peter's half-sister.
• Moe:
  • Mantis is this as usual due to her bright-eyed naivety, earnest desire to make Peter happy by giving him the best Christmas that she possibly can, and coming across as cute in general.
  • Cosmo is an adorable dog with an adorable voice.
• Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Although his character was already moving in this direction during his brief appearance in Thor: Love and Thunder, Peter Quill does not act like an idiot or a Manchild at all throughout this entire special (in fact, quite the opposite), alleviating fan complaints about his immaturity starting to get annoying at the end of The Infinity Saga.
• Salvaged Story:
  • Many people were disappointed that Cosmo's appearances in the MCU have mostly been as minor cameos without any indication that she was anything other than a regular dog that just happened to be part of Tivan's collection. Cosmo shows up in this special and not only can speak, but also has her telekinesis just like in the source material.
  • Of all the Guardians, Mantis has easily been the most Out of Focus in contrast to her teammates, making her seem like a relatively flat character. This special gives her A Day in the Limelight and some much-needed character development, as she spends the entire special trying to help her half-brother Peter celebrate Christmas. Also, she's been learning hand-to-hand combat in the interim and gets to show it off against some police officers, along with some parkour skills it seems. It also alleviates the issue of why her relationship with Peter wasn’t addressed until now, being she genuinely feared (as a socially-stunted person) that Peter would be repulsed by her connection with their father Ego.
  • Some people were disappointed that The Collector was seemingly Killed Off for Real back in Avengers: Infinity War, as he received very little screen time and led to his quest for the Infinity Stones becoming an Aborted Arc. While we don't see him onscreen, Nebula reveals that he somehow managed to survive Thanos's attack and sold all of Knowhere to the Guardians, leaving the door open for future appearances from him.
  • Following Thor: Love and Thunder, Quill continues his Character Rerailment back towards being a level-headed leader, even buying Knowhere and making it a home for many other aliens, and Kraglin even stating that Quill is considered to be one of the universe's greatest heroes. Quill also is the one to call out Drax and Mantis kidnapping Kevin Bacon, comparing it to human trafficking.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Who thought Kevin Bacon would appear in an MCU project, and a significant role? As himself no less.
  • Cosmo the Space Dog makes an appearance, given the last time she was seen was almost eight years ago as one of the Collector's prominent exhibits. Not only that, but she can speak and use telekinesis too!
  • A non-MCU related one: Mantis mentions how GoBots exist in the MCU because Drax's cousin was killed by one.
• The Woobie:
  • Peter is depressed over Gamora's loss, especially because, aside from the Guardians, he has no one else to spend Christmas with (his mom and both of his dads are all dead). Mantis even acknowledges this.
  Mantis: Peter's so sad about Gamora being gone. Maybe if we go to Earth for a wonderful Christmas gift, it would make him happy.
  • Mantis is burdened with the knowledge that she is the daughter of an Omnicidal Maniac and is afraid to share her secret with Peter, her long-lost half-brother, for fear of being rejected by him over their shared parentage. Moreover, her and Drax's well-intentioned but misguided plan to cheer him up for Christmas ends up backfiring due to their failure to recognize that their idea for a perfect Christmas gift basically amounts to human trafficking, which infuriates Peter, further demoralizing her. When she finally works up the courage to share her secret with him, she looks more vulnerable and scared than she has ever been in her life, which makes it all the sweeter that Peter happily accepts her as his sister.

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