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Pre-release Theories
Sebastian Shaw is a variant of Kevin Bacon
Kevin Bacon is actually a Skrull in disguise.
- Jossed.
The Stinger will show Adam Warlock coming out of his "incubator".
- Jossed. The Stinger is just a comedic bit with Groot, Rocket, and Cosmo.
Santa Claus will make a cameo
And they'll reference the fact that he's an Omega-Level mutant, yet another X-Men hint.- Jossed, though the song in the beginning describes Santa as having a variety of super powers.
- The Comic Book form of Santa also appears in Marvel's opening title card.
Lylla and Wal Rus will to appear
In the comics, Lylla and Wal Rus were very close companions of Rocket, as they too were from the same planet they were created on. If Lylla and Wal Rus don't appear in the Holiday special, it's also possible that the two of them will appear in the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie.- Jossed as of the Holiday Special, but it remains to be seen if they'll show up in Vol. 3.
- Lylla will appear in Vol. 3!
Howard the Duck will be back for this Holiday special
Perhaps Howard will make a cameo and share a scene with Rocket and Cosmo, Howard would comment that he and Cosmo were very close friends when they were part of the Collector's living collection. He would even have a friendly fight with Rocket, since both of them are animal-shaped aliens and quite sarcastic.- Jossed.
The Collector and the Grandmaster will appear together here.
In the MCU, it is confirmed that the Collector and the Grandmaster are biological brothers, and it would be interesting to see the two together and see the clash of their personalities, even the two would have a relationship of brothers like Cain and Abel.- That is, of course, assuming the Collector is still alive after Infinity War and that the deleted scenes of Thor: Love and Thunder aren't canon and the Grandmaster was not killed by Gorr.
- Jossed. They don't appear, though the Guardians mention purchasing Knowhere from the Collector, implying he survived the events of Infinity War.
Peter will be reunited with his grandfather
Peter's Grandfather never saw his grandson again, in Peter's childhood in 1988, after that Meredith Quill died of brain cancer, Peter's grandfather asked him to wait in the hospital and Peter fled from there and was kidnapped by Yondu and the Ravagers. Peter's grandfather was never able to find his grandson again and was probably left devastated and sad. The last time he saw Peter, he scolded him and told him to wait outside at the hospital. Peter's grandfather would probably take the blame for being so harsh on his grandson, Peter's grandfather was still alive during the events of 2014 and survived the Ego Expansion. It would be very interesting and comforting for Peter to be reunited with his grandfather on earth, even the two would give each other a sweet hug His grandfather would apologize to him for being so harsh with him when he was a child.- Jossed. Only Mantis and Drax go to Earth and there's no mention of Peter's family.
- However, it turns out a very similar thing happens in the third film
Daniela Melchior's character will appear in The Stinger.
- Jossed.
There will be at least one joke about Peter's Memetic Loser status
Whether that be a joke about him moping in a bar because he's lonely or, as a nod to the fandom, him singlehandedly fouling up the plan to get the Infinity Gauntlet off Thanos and getting half of all life killed for five years.One possible line could be from Drax, explaining why Quill is feeling down.
Drax: He's sad because he lost Gamora and half the universe died because of him.
- Semi-confirmed. The special's opening is a song about Christmas from an uninformed alien perspective and calling terrans weird for celebrating it, which mostly exists to embarrass Peter. Infinity War is never mentioned specifically, though.
Gamora will appear in The Stinger
In a mid-credits-scene, Alternate Gamora will appear as a cameo to surprise the Guardians.- Jossed.
Cosmo and Rocket will be teased as a potential couple
In the teaser, Rocket and Cosmo appeared to be now on good terms, despite Cosmo growling at Rocket way back in the first Guardians film. This could imply the duo will have Belligerent Sexual Tension.- It's probably not sexual tension, but they definitely have a frenemy relationship.
The Spirit of the Sacred Timeline Gamora will appear in The Stinger... and possibly lead to the plot in Vol.3
- While the Sacred Timeline version (AKA the original version) of Gamora has been declared dead, the special will reveal she's still alive in the Soul World, much similar to her comic book counterpart. The third installment will lead to Gamora Prime being freed from the soul world, but it will come at a cost. Either Peter, Nebula or Gamora Alternate Past will sacrifice their lives to bring the OG Gamora back.
- Jossed.
Kevin Bacon is recruited by a team of his variants from across the multiverse
They're the real reason for the six degrees of Kevin Bacon meme.- Jossed.
Post-release Theories
Mark Hamill's cameo...
It's Luke Skywalker after the destruction of the Jedi temple and before he went to Acto, officially making Star Wars part of the MCU.- Or, considering AC Bradley wanted a crossover with Star Wars for What If…? (2021), Mark is a Variant of Luke.
- Jossed. It's not Mark Hamill, it's actually Troy Beecham.
Kevin Bacon will appear As Himself in Wonder Man later in the future.
Since that show is going to be about Hollywood in some regard, it'd be interesting to see Bacon shoot some movies with Simon Williams and Trevor Slattery.- He'll be seen brainstorming the Bollywood remake with Kingo.
Drax's cousin getting killed by a GoBot has a more mundane explanation.
Drax bought one of the toys as a gift to his cousin, but it proved to be a choking hazard as his cousin choked to death on it. Bucky will mention in Thunderbolts how he had to get a new arm after "someone" stole his old one.
Or alternatively, he'll be "gifted" a new arm by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine that she has a way of controlling remotely to keep Bucky under her thumb much easier, thus making Nebula stealing his original arm a Cerebus Retcon.- Another alternative is that the broken remains of his old titanium arm are repaired in the wake of his new one's loss.
On GoBots in the MCU
Since a man-high GoBot doesn't strike Drax as out of the ordinary, since GoBots are supposed to be the same size as Transformers in the original show, the only logical explanation is that GoBots are supposed to be man-high. This would also tie in to their canon origins as organic aliens with their brains planted into robot bodies, since being man-high would help them to adjust better. Throw in some Size Shifting except for those with a vehicle mode below 6 feet long like Cy-Kill and Scooter, and you have the MCU GoBots right there. The third installment will reveal that Mantis has untapped celestial powers.
The third installment will reveal that Mantis inherited powers from her father Ego. Much like Peter, her powers are still dormant. Ultimately Mantis will access her celestial powers to save the day in Vol.3- Jossed.
Why make the GoBots a part of the MCU?
They're a cheaper stand in for the Transformers, which had many crossovers with Marvel in the past. The GoBots' presence in the MCU is the result of Road Ranger seeding the multiverse with Gobotrons.
No doubt that some of those universes include Earth-199999 and its many offshoots.