By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
When Marvel announced that before the release of the final Guardians of the Galaxy movie, we would be getting a rather special present before the end. A 45 minute holiday special would air on the Disney channel with a dual purpose: sowing seeds for the new movie by introducing us to new crew members Kraglin Obfonteri (Sean Gunn) and Cosmo the space dog voiced by Maria Bakalova. We also learn that Manta is actually Peter Quill’s sister. They both share the same father Ego the Living Planet, a fact Manta only reveals to Drax at first.
Set after the events of Endgame, Quill is a mess, spending most of his time drinking and feeling spry for himself. He is lost without Gamora. His version was murdered by Thanos but the version restored in the events of endgame has no memories of her and Quill. She doesn’t love him because it never happened for her. She is a member of the Ravagers now. It’s Christmas which makes things worse for Quill. Manta and Drax hatch a plan to cheer Quill up by getting him the bst present ever for Christmas.
They are going to kidnap his hero, Kevin Bacon from Footloose.
Photos copyright Marvel
The mission goes according to plan with plenty of comedy with Drax and Manta at their best experiencing Christmas. They find Bacon and take him when Manta puts him under her spell. However they don’t get the reaction from Quill they were expecting when they present Kevin Bacon to him. A shocked Quill accuses them of human trafficking and releases Bacon from Manta’s spell.
When everything is explained the episode ends with a sing song as Kevin Bacon sings with a band and brings Christmas cheer before departing. So what’s my problem? As good as the episode is, at least up until the end,it failed its udienc completely.
Kevin Bacon is Quill’s hero. Footloose is an amazing movie. It played such a part in the first Guardians installment that the emding of this holiday special should have been a no brainer. I am sure I was not the only one thinking the same thing. When Quill meets Kevin Bacon there should have only been one ending….a bloody dance off!
You meet your hero and the one thing you want is hear their catch phrase or see them do something they are associated with. With Kevin Bacon literally in Quill’s lap, this was the perfect opportunity to give fans what they wanted to see. I thought part way through the song, Bacon and Quill would do a Footloose sequence but it never happened. For me such a great, fun packed story just threw away a chance that would never come again. I don’t even watch the holiday special on repeat because of Marvel’s misstep here. But then again, given the quality of movies and television series that have been produced over the last year mayb this was a glimpse of things to come with Marvel taking their eye off the ball. I can’t believe James Gunn let it slip either but it is what it is.
The Guardians holliday special remains as an almost perfect piece of Marvel with a twist of if only.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 