Did Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Add GoBots to the MCU? Plus, Get the Skinny on 'Swole Groot' - TVLine

The pursuing contains spoilers of a benignant from The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, now streaming connected Disney+.

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special sent Mantis and Drax (played by MCU vets Pom Klementieff and Dave Bautista) connected a Yuletide ngo to Earth, wherever nary sooner had they acceptable ft connected Hollywood Blvd. than the second astir got into fisticuffs with a costumed quality dressed arsenic the GoBot named Cykill.

Mantis rapidly broke things up and pulled her person disconnected the stranger, explaining to onlookers that “GoBots killed his cousin!”

Meaning, that GoBots are real beings successful the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And not conscionable toys/cartoon fodder.

“A rogue GoBot brutally murdered [Drax’s] cousin,” Guardians franchise brag James Gunn made wide connected Twitter implicit the vacation weekend.

Gunn besides explained to fans of the vacation peculiar that erstwhile it came to choosing which costumed figures would populate his instrumentality connected Hollywood Blvd.’s tourer photograph op scene, “I chose from the ones disposable to us, either nationalist domain oregon Disney, oregon successful the lawsuit of GoBots, Hasbro being precise bully to fto america usage CyKill.”

When 1 follower asked if Gunn had considered utilizing Marvel’s ain Rom, a abstraction knight that was archetypal a artifact earlier landing connected the comic publication pages, the filmmaker said, “No. GoBots was utilized due to the fact that I thought it was funnier!”

Cykill whitethorn beg to disagree, however, seeing arsenic however erstwhile the Hollywood Blvd. series came to a close, Drax was successful the inheritance perfectly pummeling the poser.

The different blistery taxable coming retired of the Guardians vacation peculiar was the latest quality of Groot, who is nary longer successful an teen signifier (as past seen connected the large screen) but is present “YA Groot” — or, much descriptively/jarringly, “Swole Groot.”

Gunn explained connected Twitter that Swole Groot, being a progeny and not a clone of his sire who starred successful Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, is simply “getting bigger, outward arsenic good arsenic upward. As you tin spot by now, helium has a different, stockier physiology (and a much outgoing personality) than his begetter did.”

“He’s overmuch broader than OG Groot ever was,” Gunn reiterated. “He’s a wholly antithetic Groot.”

Gunn besides pointed retired to galore who inquired that Swole Groot, again voiced by Vin Diesel, was successful information not a idiosyncratic wearing a applicable costume but “100% machine generated acknowledgment to the good folks astatine @Framestore and @weta_digital.”

Gunn — who for the adjacent fewer months is moving for some Marvel (as a filmmaker) and DC (as the co-boss of DC Studios fka DC Films) — besides fielded immoderate (overly concerned, sometimes-rude) inquiries astir however Nebula, a cyborg with precocious alien technology, came to beryllium successful possession of Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier’s vibranium arm, successful bid to acquisition it to Rocket connected Christmas.

“She tore it disconnected his body,” Gunn maintained, “because she was overwhelmed with Christmas Spirit.”