If there’s one factor you possibly can depend on the MCU to usually present, it’s usually a callback. The lately launched Guardians of the Galaxy vacation particular affords possibly the best callback of the entire enterprise by bringing in Kevin Bacon as himself. You might recall that Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord is deeply enamored with the Friday the thirteenth and Footloose actor, and has made that well-known to his alien companions all through the Guardians’ many appearances.

For Bacon himself, he instructed IGN that he genuinely had no clue he’d be title dropped within the 2014 Guardians movie till he received the prospect to see it. He referred to as it a “very strange experience, but cool.” So when he was approached with the opportunity of truly being within the MCU practically a decade later, he jumped on the likelihood. “I didn’t really read the script. I just said, ‘Oh yeah, that sounds great.’”

The Guardians particular was one of many first issues Marvel deliberate to make for Disney+, however you may not have identified that. Between director James Gunn’s firing (and rehiring) from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, his subsequent bounce to DC, after which the pandemic, it’s taken time to get this mission off the bottom. Bacon acknowledged that it was “quite a few years” when he was pitched the thought, and again then when he initially signed on, he wasn’t absolutely certain if he’d truly be enjoying himself.

It was after Gunn gave him the script and the actor realized that he’d even be singing, that he was much more in on the mission. “Gunn referenced all the tunes, so I immediately made myself a playlist just to feel the vibe of the whole thing and listen to it a lot,” Bacon stated. The large musical spotlight of the particular is a rock-and-roll carol he does with the MCU’s model of the Old 97s, a sequence he referred to as a pleasure to make. “I think it’s got a really nice combination of sweetness and sentimentality without being a corny take on Christmas. And it rocks, and I loved it.”

Talking about Gunn, Bacon described him as “a powerhouse…He’s just got a great voice and a great eye, and he’s super smart.” His expertise with the director and the remainder of the Guardians crew, he continued, was like an workplace Christmas celebration the place “everybody had a blast, and most of all, me.”

You can watch Kevin Bacon within the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+, or take heed to its soundtrack on the music platform of your selection.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to count on the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing it is advisable learn about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.