(at around 23 mins) In this film, Drax refuses to share his zarg nuts with Mantis. This is because in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022), she ate all of his without permission.
This film sets the record for the most makeup appliances used in a single film. The numbers are staggering, totaling 22,541 prosthetics, 500 wigs, and 117 pairs of contacts by the end, used across more than 1,000 actors.
Nebula has a new nano tech weave arm in this film, which was an upgrade made for her by Rocket. Director James Gunn confirmed Rocket made this arm for Nebula to thank her for gifting him Bucky's detached vibranium arm in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022).
After James Gunn was fired as director, actor Dave Bautista (Drax) became one of Gunn's most vocal supporters, tweeting that "James Gunn is one of the most loving, caring, good natured people I have ever met. He's gentle and kind and cares deeply for people and animals. He's made mistakes. We all have. I'm NOT ok with what's happening to him." Bautista even stated that he would demand to be released from his contract if the studio did not use the screenplay Gunn had originally written for this film. Gunn was later re-hired.
Taika Waititi was widely rumored to take over directing from James Gunn after the latter was temporarily fired from the project. However, Waititi made it clear that this option was never on the table for him, claiming that "those are James' films. [That] would be like going into someone's house and saying 'Hey, I'm your new dad, and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now.' It feels kind of awkward."