Guardians of the Galaxy have a new ship named after rock’s first Starman

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special writer-director James Gunn is revealing that everyone’s spacefaring team of heroes will get a brand new ship in the Marvel Special Presentation debuting next week. What’s more, the short film will also serve to set up some other things for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Although Gunn indicated he tried to strike a balance, overall, when it comes to making Vol. 3 comprehensible even if you haven’t seen the Holiday Special, he still recommended fans view it when it hits Disney Plus to stay up to speed. As Gunn explained to ComicBook,

“You’re obviously gonna learn a lot about where the Guardians have been in the past few years. You’re gonna see how they now inhabit Knowhere. They’ve got a new ship called the Bowie. They’ve got a dog is part of their crew now, who has telekinesis, named Cosmo. So, where you get to learn all that, and then there’s a couple of bigger pieces of spoiler-y lore. You’re gonna learn all of those things. In a way, the Holiday Special was a Trojan Horse for me to sneak in stuff that becomes important in Vol. 3, so I don’t have to spend a lot of time at the beginning of that movie explaining it.”

The name of the new ship, Bowie, is an obvious nod to the late rocker David Bowie, who was famous for making space-themed music, such as in the songs “Space Oddity,” “Starman,” and “Life on Mars?” Bowie’s songs “Moonage Daydream” and “Suffragette City” were also featured in the soundtracks for Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, respectively.

Over on Twitter, Gunn divulged even more information about Bowie, including that it was brought to life by way of a practical set.

“Most of the sets in all of my movies have been practical,” he said.

Gunn went on to explain that the Bowie set was designed by “Beth Mickle and her team” and that the set is made up of “four interconnected stories.” He continued,

“[It] was probably the most magnificent and beautiful set I’ve ever been on in my life. Even up close, it felt like a working ship.”

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special comes to Disney Plus on Nov. 25.