New Guardians of the Galaxy project will feature "one of the greatest MCU characters of all time," teases James Gunn

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has teased the introduction of an exciting new character in the upcoming Marvel Holiday Special.

"In my incredibly subjective & admittedly often odd opinion, we'll be introducing one of the greatest MCU characters of all time," Gunn tweeted when asked whether we could expect the arrival of any new characters in the Holiday Special.

The Holiday Special will see Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Karen Gillan, and Pom Klementieff return as the titular Guardians. It's set to be filmed at the same time as Guardians of the Galaxy 3 and will take place between the events of Thor: Love and Thunder and the third Guardians movie.

Gunn previously revealed that the special will be less than 40 minutes long and told Collider that "it’s in-canon, it’s about the Guardians, you’re gonna learn stuff that you need to learn before Volume 3."

When the special was announced last year, the director has also hinted that it was inspired by the Star Wars Holiday Special, tweeting: "One of my favorite stories ever, which I have bugged Kevin Feige endlessly about over the years. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. And, yes, I unironically loved the Star Wars Holiday Special as a kid."

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is due to be released on Disney Plus in December 2022, while Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will hit the big screen on May 5, 2023. While we wait, make sure you're up to date with the MCU with our guide to Marvel Phase 4.