James Gunn: The GOTG Holiday Special is Mantis’ True Debut

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special debuted last week, and a lot of fans are having fun with James Gunn’s short Christmas adventure. The special actually puts Pom Klementieff’s Mantis in the spotlight, and Gunn says that the film is the ‘true debut’ of the character.

Gunn shares this Tweet with a caption:

Thanks to the early reviews loving the #GuardiansoftheGalaxyHolidaySpecial. I’m especially grateful for all the raves about @PomKlementieff’s performance as Mantis. This is Mantis’ true debut as her full-fledged self in the MCU, out of the background & out of the shadow of Ego. pic.twitter.com/sjXWSVkhxX

— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) November 24, 2022

Though Mantis does have her special moments in Guardians Vol. 2, the special puts her in the center of a plot to bring Quill the ‘perfect Christmas’ because she is harbouring the secret that she’s actually another daughter of Ego, making her Quill’s half-sister.

The scene was actually deleted from Vol. 2, but I think it’s great that Gunn decided to use that as a plot point in the special instead of having us wait for Vol. 3 to explore the arc.

Besides the whole Mantis/Quill arc, the special does give us some plot hints for Vol. 3. It’s been revealed that the Guardians are now taking care of Knowhere after the events of the Snap; in the comics, Knowhere was actually smaller, and was the headquarters of the Guardians. We also have the reveal of Cosmo the Space Dog, who talks like the dogs from Disney Pixar’s UP (in the comics, he does it telepathically). We also get to see a grown Groot, and we expect him to be taller by the time Vol. 3 comes out—probably closer to his appearance in the first movie.

Catch The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special now screening on Disney+.