For as long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe will exist in the collective subconscious of humanity, questions surrounding its canon will continue to pop up, and only get more and more convoluted as the franchise goes on. We know, for example, that Lil Nas X not only exists in the MCU, which was confirmed during Shang-Chi’s and Katy’s “Old Town Road” karaoke session in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but was also a survivor of Thanos’ snap, as he released the song in 2019, which was part of the 5-year period of the Blip.
Recommended VideosThe bottom line is that the MCU’s writers are no strangers to crossing the franchise over with the real world, and with the recent release of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, we’ve been posed the biggest question yet; does Santa Claus exist in the MCU? He may restricted to folklore in our own world, but by the MCU’s standards, a character of Santa’s talents and history could even be called mundane.
If we go by the Marvel Comics’ history with Santa, which we’ve touched on extensively, then the odds of his existence are quite high; to give a brief summary, Kris Kringle is in fact a real person in the comic books, and is portrayed as a mutant with reality-manipulation powers. But this alone doesn’t answer our question; we know that Marvel Studios isn’t afraid to deviate from the comics, especially with mutants in particular (looking at you, Ms. Marvel), and we don’t think they would be above axing Santa from the canon.
Luckily, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special gifts us a very strong hint that the jolly red giant is a part of the MCU’s reality after all.
We previously entertained the question of whether Star-Lord believes in Santa or not, and considering he was taken from Earth as a small, Santa-age child, and would also go on to encounter aliens, Infinity Stones, and talking trees and raccoons in his lifetime, Santa doesn’t seem like a far leap for his imagination.
But more importantly, in the opening musical number of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, “I Don’t Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here),” we very clearly hear the lyric “Santa is a furry freak with epic superpowers.”
Now, it’s entirely possible that the grapevine of Star-Lord to Kraglin to Cosmo to Rocket may not produce the firmest grasp on the realities of Christmas in the MCU, but Bzermikitokolok’s description of a super-powered Santa Claus certainly falls in line with what we understand of the holiday icon in his Marvel Comics appearances. Factor in Star-Lord taking the time to deny lyrics that portrayed Santa as a master thief and owner of a flamethrower whilst seeming to accept the bit about superpowers, and all signs seem to be pointing towards the conclusion that one Father Christmas just might be nestled in the North Pole of Earth-199999.
Should we ever get an indisputable confirmation on the matter, we’re all but confident that the internet has the essential follow-up question locked and loaded; did Santa survive Thanos’ snap?
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