While 1978’s Star Wars Holiday Special infamously didn’t involve the saga’s creator, George Lucas — who once wished he could smash every copy with a hammer — the same can’t be said for Friday’s Disney+ release, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. 

Guardians franchise writer-director James Gunn’s project perfectly fits into Marvel Cinematic Universe canon. The film has Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill/Star-Lord in need of some yuletide cheer, so his Guardians pals cook up a plan to surprise the Footloose fan with the ultimate Christmas present: Kevin Bacon.

Bacon tells ABC Audio he trusted Gunn so much, he was a “yes” right away. “Listen: I didn’t need any convincing. I didn’t even need to see the script. I knew it was gonna be cool.”

Bacon, a musician himself, admires Gunn’s musical tastes, and that plays a big part in the special.

Gunn, the curator of both Guardians movies’ classic rock-filled soundtracks, employs tunes ranging from “Christmastime” by The Smashing Pumpkins to “Christmas Treat” by Julian Casablancas; “Dead By X-mas” from Hanoi Rocks to The Waitress’ “Christmas Wrapping,” plus a new holiday tune from Old 97’s called “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here).” 

Bacon joins Old 97s for a track called “Here it is Christmastime.” The actor explains, “When he finally … sent the script, he said, ‘Oh, by the way, you’re going to sing in it.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, man, that’s amazing.’ That hadn’t even, like, occurred to me.”

He says of Gunn, “He does have a great sense of music. I love that Old 97’s song, you know. What a challenge to write a new Christmas song … It’s cool. It really is.”  

Marvel Studios is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News. 

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