What if…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas? review S2 E3

What if…Happy Hogan Saved Christmas is a solid enough episode. The biggest problem is it’s following two strong episodes.

And there’s more than enough Marvel Studios fodder to mine for alternate stories than an MCU version of Die Hard.

This time it’s Happy (Jon Favreau) playing John McClane and Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) doing his best Hans Gruber.

It’s definitely not a terrible idea. Hammer is a sleazy hack villain who would be welcome returning even in brief cameo roles. Happy has been an MCU fixture since the first Iron Man. Throw in a couple of other longtime supporting members and a simple invasion repelling premise and it basically writes itself.

While the Avengers are off at a charity event, it’s up to Happy to deal with Hammer and his two goons as they seek a vial of the Hulk’s blood. Crawling through vents and yes, even running around barefoot Happy has to contend with Avengers Tower’s defenses turned against him.

There are some funny bits here. Hammer is a chatterbox and guaranteed to deliver some gems occasionally and Happy’s put upon attitude would make McClane proud.

MORE:

• G.I. Joe Classified Series Retro Storm Shadow review
• Marvel Legends Spiral review – Retro card
• DC Comics reviews 12/19/23 – Nightwing #109, Superman #9

 

And the timing for this episode couldn’t be better with its Christmas Eve airdate. A twist plays out midway through the episode that came off a little sillier than the usual MCU fare. Again, Happy Hogan Saved Christmas probably shouldn’t be this dour, joyless affair but the usual high stakes of What If…? definitely were missed.

Beyond Die Hard, this episode draws on some moments from Avengers: Age of Ultron as a link to the Sacred Timeline version of the default Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In a rarity for the series, the animation looked a little soft lacking the smooth movement flow that’s been the norm. Some of it might have been a case of some of the color combinations at play in the episode. The hue of purple used doesn’t blend in well with the darker backdrops and stands out in a visually jarring way.

This was a solid, if not spectacular What If…? installment. They can’t all be home runs or grand slams and this was fun enough to make for a proper warm up to Christmas.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Photo Credit: Disney

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.