James Gunn would have used a different actor in THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL if Kevin Bacon hadn’t

The Guardians of the Galaxy film, directed by James Gunn, are a good mix of humor, action and serious plots that bring us closer to the characters and their mostly tragic stories. As a break from the big and scary and sad, Gunn made a super fun gift for fans Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The short features a Christmas-loving version of Kevin Bacon who is kidnapped by Mantis (Pom Clementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) as a gift for super fan Peter Quill (Chris Pratt).

While Bacon is James Gunn’s favorite actor, and he always planned to use him in the story, it turns out he had a backup plan if Bacon wasn’t ready to accept the part. In a recent interview with Variety, Gunn was asked what he would do if Bacon refused. He replied:

“I would have recast with a different actor, but I’m glad I got my first choice.”

When asked how similar the special’s Kevin Bacon is to the real Kevin Bacon, Gunn said:

“Kevin doesn’t like Christmas. That part was fun for me. I have Kevin showing up on set in what is supposed to be his house, and it’s full of all these huge inflatables. It appears that Santa threw up all over Bacon’s house, which looks nothing like Kevin Bacon’s house. It looks so LA, which is not Kevin. But Kevin is a super nice guy. He is so talented, so professional, so egoless and just a really nice person. That part of the character is just like him.

And when asked if Gunn and Marvel were the boss Kevin Feige debated whether Bacon’s appearance in the special meant he wouldn’t appear in the MCU as a future character, or whether the part ties in with or negates his villainous role in X-Men: first classGunn said:

“No, we didn’t. One of the things that Kevin Feige really impressed me about running the MCU is that what matters most is the project right in front of him. You might have a plan for how you want to do something along the way, but if it screws it up right in front of you, then it doesn’t work. The best thing for the holiday special is Kevin Bacon, and if that means Kevin Bacon is a different character later in the MCU, that doesn’t matter. It is not real. None of this is real. He was the perfect person for the role of Kevin Bacon. If we had cast John Schneider as Kevin Bacon, it wouldn’t have worked as well.

I’m so excited to watch this special! My family is having a great time tonight and we are looking forward to it as we have only heard great things. Have you already watched it? What did you think?