Pom Klementieff Teases ‘Cute & Deadly’ Mantis Fight in ‘The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special’

While we patiently wait for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to come out in May 2023, Disney+ is dropping off an early present for fans of Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) and his merry band of alien misfits.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, directed by James Gunn, revisits the Guardians — Quill, Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Drax (Dave Bautista), Kraglin (Sean Gunn), Nebula (Karen Gillan), Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) — for a 44-minute seasonal special presentation that both serves as a prequel for the next film and packs a punch of holiday hijinks.

It’s nearly Christmastime on Earth, and Peter is still feeling down about the loss of Gamora (Zoe Saldana). So, Drax and Mantis devise a plan: travel to Earth and bring him back the best Christmas gift ever. However, the only “thing” they can think to get Peter for Christmas is his all-time favorite (movie) hero, Kevin Bacon. Yep, Bacon guest stars as himself in this Marvel special, but first, Mantis and Drax must track the movie star down, and the aliens will cause a bit of havoc while on Earth, according to Klementieff. “They don’t really know what’s going on down on Earth and how to behave around people, so they think they do things the right way, but they can create chaos,” she says. “It brings a lot of comedy.”

The two find themselves on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame posing in photos for human tourists, which Klementieff notes they “got actually to do in real life.” Adding: “It was really fun to get to wear antennas on the Walk of Fame.”

They’ll also visit a nightclub and pound some drinks, and eventually, bring home Bacon for Peter. There will be resistance, however. “There’s a lot of fans who wanted to see Mantis fight, and so I get to do that [in this special] with a really fun, big weapon,” she teases. “It’s cute and deadly.”

Fans might also recall that Mantis is Peter’s half-sister, a familial bond still unknown to Peter himself. “She doesn’t want to overwhelm Peter, but there’s a deep connection between both of them,” Klementieff says. We’ll have to wait and see if Peter gets both Bacon and a sister for Christmas, it seems!

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, Special Premiere, Friday, November 25, Disney+