One of the biggest mysteries from the Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special was how Nebula was able to tear out Bucky’s vibranium arm. During the special, Nebula gave Rocket Raccoon the sought-after mechanical arm from Avengers: Endgame, and it had fans wondering how it was possible. Fortunately, Guardians star Karen Gillan has the answers we need to this MCU mystery.
Gillan revealed how Nebula was able to grab Bucky’s arm off-camera in between the events of Endgame and the Holiday Special during an interview with Hollywood Reporter. She and her co-star Pom Klementieff discussed what happened between the two Marvel characters off camera. She simply claimed that she took it out off Bucky with “brute force” and the two joked about seeing Bucky with one arm in later Marvel installments.
Interestingly, this is the same response Guardians director, James Gunn gave when he was asked about Bucky’s arm after the release of the Holiday Special back in 2022.
Gillan: “She took it off of him with sheer brute force. She wanted to get Rocket a nice gift, and she thought that would be a really good one. He’s had his eye on that arm, and does Bucky really need it?”
Klementieff: “I just want to see Bucky in the next movies with one arm.”
Gillan: “Armless and hating Nebula.”
Despite the arm being a gift to Rocket Racoon, trailers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 showed Nebula using the vibranium attachment, not Rocket. Gillan revealed that it was due to “the courtesy of Rocket,” possibly hinting that the talking raccoon permitted Nebula to use it in their adventures with Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians. She also expressed excitement about how the arm could “turn to all sorts of things” and do anything at any given time.
“Yeah, she’s got a new arm courtesy of Rocket. It is so cool and it basically does everything that anyone needs at any given time. It turns into all sorts of things.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is said to be the final installment for the Guardians of the Galaxy film franchise due to Dave Bautista leaving the MCU and Gunn’s new role at DC Studios. At the moment, it’s currently unknown which of the Guardians will return in future Marvel installments, and it was confirmed by Gunn that Vol. 3 will not feature anything involving the overarching Kang storyline.
If you’re keen to see more of Nebula’s arm in action, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be out in theaters on May 3, 2023.