Is Nova In James Gunn’s The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special?

Written by Edwin Francisco

Is Nova In James Gunn's The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special

Writer/director James Gunn debuts an important MCU character in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

James Gunn is a very active person on Twitter.

When someone asks a question, he tries to answer when possible.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is scheduled for Disney Plus in 2022.

A fan asked James Gunn if there was a chance that a new character will be introduced just like Boba Fett in the Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

James Gunn replied:

In my incredibly subjective & admittedly often odd opinion, we’ll be introducing one of the greatest MCU characters of all time.

There is a lot of speculation who that person will be, especially since it will tie in with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.

Will it be Adam Warlock since he was teased to show up in the last Guardians movie?

Warlock is too big for a TV one-off.

Will it be Richard Rider, a.k.a. Nova?

Nova

Image: Marvel Comics Group

As with Warlock, Nova would melt the Internet. Again, Nova is too huge of a superhero to enter the MCU in such a limited.

It’s a thrilling possibility; however, we doubt it.

Geekosity Editor-in-Chief Mikey Sutton scooped a Nova film years ago.

If he does first appear on Disney Plus, it’ll be in a larger capacity.

What about the Silver Surfer?

Marvel Studios is saving him for The Fantastic Four.

Some are even speculating ROM the Space Knight, but I doubt that since that character is bound to Hasbro, just like Transformers.

IDW Publishing last rebooted ROM.

Consequently, this won’t happen unless Hasbro gets involved.

Who could be the most interesting most appropriate character in the MCU?

Santa Claus is likely.

However, that can be a disappointment to many fans who look forward to see someone more significant.

Nevertheless, if you think about it, Claus was in the comics.

Is Nova In James Gunn’s The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special

Santa Claus X-Men

Image: Marvel Comics Group

Yes, Santa Claus did exist in the Marvel Universe (Earth-616); moreover, he is even considered a mutant by Cerebro.

Claus first appeared in Strange Tales No. 34 and has shown multiple times during the holidays.

In fact, he has met several Marvel characters including the X-Men, Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, and Howard the Duck.

But he doesn’t have any special origin like most Marvel or any comic-book heroes.

The history of Claus can be summed up based on what everyone believes where he comes from.

His powers of teleportation, super speed and super strength only manifest once a year.

Even though he looks old, no one knows what his actual age is.

But it also makes sense for Claus to show up in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special since it is a bit of a tradition for him to appear in the comics once in a while.

This also means that different Marvel-related Holiday Specials might come in the future with Santa being involved.

He can show that he’s more than just a gift-giving immortal.

In addition, Claus is the kind of quirky guest star that’d make sense for James Gunn and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special.

Yet he doesn’t quite echo the potential of James Gunn’s teasing. Underwhelming is the key word.

After all, the absence of Mephisto in WandaVision crushed fans.

If not Claus, who is it?

Is Nova In James Gunn’s The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special

Is Nova In James Gunn's The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special - Bug

Image: Marvel Comics Group

Another possibility is Bug from the Micronauts.

Writer Bill Mantlo and artist Michael Golden co-created Bug for Micronauts No. 1 in 1978.

Unlike many other characters in the Marvel Comics series, Bug was not part of the Mego toy line. (Hasbro owns them now.)

In other words, Disney has the rights to Bug.

James Gunn included Bug in a previous draft for Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sutton was online friends with Mantlo’s late brother Michael Mantlo.

According to Michael, Gunn was wrongly told that Disney didn’t have the rights to Bug.

Sutton privately leaked projects like Cloak & Dagger to Michael at the time as they were co-created by his brother.

Michael informed Sutton that James Gunn had received correct information about Bug’s ownership.

In other words, James Gunn knows he could use Bug now if he wanted to.

Tellingly, Bug was a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics line-up with Rocket Raccoon.

Related: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Could Be James Gunn’s Last

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Could Be James Gunn’s Last

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Could Be James Gunn’s Last