S02.E03: What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?

[formerlyfreedom]

Quote

When Justin Hammer lays siege to Avengers Tower during the annual holiday party, there's only one person left on site to stop him—Happy Hogan. But in setting out to prove his hero chops, Iron Man's errand boy may end up transforming himself in more ways than one.

Dropping Sunday, December 24, 2023.

[Spartan Girl]

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday special was way better.

[benteen]

I enjoyed it. It was fun. They even managed to make Justin Hammer something of a threat. Avengers on their downtime was fun.

[thuganomics85]

Agreed with something i read elsewhere that I wouldn't be surprised if this whole concept was just a way to have someone call Happy "Hulk Hogan."

Definitely were going all out with the Die Hard references and homages.  Justin Hammer is no Hans Gruber though, but Sam Rockwell was having a ball here, as was Kate Dennings as Darcy.

Seeing Maria Hill again just reminded me of what happened to her in Secret Invasion...

Out of the replacement voice actors, I still think Lake Bell is the best one with her version of Natasha.

[tkc]

I thought of “Hulk Hogan” as well, but if his name is to be like that of the other Hulks (She-Hulk, Smart Hulk, Professor Hulk), shouldn’t he be called “Happy Hulk?” 😀

I enjoyed the heavy leaning into the “light holiday fare” genre, with all the not-a-Christmas-movie Die Hard references!

[arc]

There's something absolutely bonkers about Stark building in red lights into his Iron Man bots to show when they've turned evil. Like, the very fact that he installed them indicates he knows there's a chance they might turn evil. He could have spent that energy on building some anti-evil protocols into the droids instead. However, it is totally on brand for Justin Hammer to activate the red eyes because he knows he's being a dick.

TBH I've never seen Die Hard. But I think I've picked up the gist from sheer cultural diffusion, and I was tickled to hear Darcy list how the situation was just like all the movies inspired by Die Hard.

How does one even obtain Hulk blood? Isn't he nigh invulnerable?

"Hulk Hogan" - ahahahaha!

I'm also pleased by WERNER, played by Ross Marquand, who went viral years ago for doing a ton of very funny impressions. Apparently he's actually been in What If season 1.

Darcy is adorable. There wasn't a post-credits scene in this, but Kat Dennings as Darcy did get to sing her full verse. I wonder if it was improvised. It's great either way.

I wasn't paying attention to the background during the call to Clint and Bruce, but the credits sequence made me realize the Iron Man toys were sold out and Hawkeye toys were on 25% discount and still no one was buying em.

[arc]

"Bernard in accounting" (who got the Puffin-1 call sign) has been mentioned twice now! The first time was the season 1 finale, in the Winter Soldier homage where Natasha talks about setting Peggy Carter up with Bernard.

[Spartan Girl]

20 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Seeing Maria Hill again just reminded me of what happened to her in Secret Invasion...

Yeah, that’s another reason why I couldn’t enjoy this episode. Throwing her in as a side character to Happy’s Die Hard escapade after they fridged her on SI reminds me that she (and other female characters they screwed over) deserved better.

[arc]

 

[festivus]

This one was fun with all the Die Hard stuff. 

"On the feast of Steve Rogers" lol.

[Chicago Redshirt]

On 12/25/2023 at 2:38 AM, arc said:

How does one even obtain Hulk blood? Isn't he nigh invulnerable?

Emphasis on "nigh."

It's possible to get blood from Bruce Banner while he's Hulked out. I believe we have been shown/told in the MCU that he has bled as Hulk. 

I believe that Thanos beat him so badly in Infinity War that he was bleeding. In the series Secret Invasion, Fury tells us that all Avengers, even Captain Marvel, bled during the battle depicted in Endgame.

We also have the miracle metal vibranium, which can do whatever the plot needs it to do, so it's possible that someone crafted a needle of it and took a sample from Hulk.

But it is also possible that they took a sample of Bruce's blood when he was in "puny Banner" form. It still would be Hulk blood and possible to experiment on it.

In the She-Hulk series, blood from Bruce while he was puny Banner got into one of his cousin's wounds and gave her Hulk abilities. Someone later injected Jen while she was in puny Jen form in an attempt to give Hulk-like abilities to another character.

 

[Megras]

14 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Emphasis on "nigh."

It's possible to get blood from Bruce Banner while he's Hulked out. I believe we have been shown/told in the MCU that he has bled as Hulk. 

 

  Reveal spoiler

I believe that Thanos beat him so badly in Infinity War that he was bleeding. In the series Secret Invasion, Fury tells us that all Avengers, even Captain Marvel, bled during the battle depicted in Endgame.

 

 

 

Spoiler

We also saw Fenris bite into his leg in Ragnarok

 

[tennisgurl]

I actually watched this one on Christmas Eve, which was a delightful way to spend time resting after a huge dinner. While the Guardians Christmas special if still my favorite MCU Christmas property, this was still a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the Die Hard references and they even managed to make Justin Hammer feel like a real threat even in what is clearly going to be a light hearted Christmas episode. I love seeing Avengers in their off time. 

I noticed that all of the Iron Man toys were gone while the Hawkeye ones were on clearance. Even his kids apparently wanted the Iron Man toy, poor Clint. At least he'll have a better Christmas with a cute dog and a sidekick in a few years! 

Seeing Maria just makes me sad. 

Edited January 2 by tennisgurl

[Kel Varnsen]

On 12/24/2023 at 9:58 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Out of the replacement voice actors, I still think Lake Bell is the best one with her version of Natasha.

I am not sure about that. In between What If season one and this I watched all of Harley Quinn and Lake Bell's Natasha voice doesn't sound very different from her Poison Ivy voice.

On 1/2/2024 at 12:52 PM, tennisgurl said:

Seeing Maria just makes me sad. 

I guess on the bright side she can maybe say that this was her final MCU project rather than that piece of crap Secret Invasion.

On 12/25/2023 at 3:38 AM, arc said:

"Hulk Hogan" - ahahahaha!

I'm also pleased by WERNER, played by Ross Marquand, who went viral years ago for doing a ton of very funny impressions. Apparently he's actually been in What If season 1.

The Hulk Hogan thing is extra funny, since when the Hulkster first became famous he was introduced as The Incredible Hulk Hogan. And because of that The WWF had to license the name Hulk from Marvel comics for many years.

As for Werner, about 95% of what I know about Werner Herzog comes from Seth Meyers doing impressions of him on Late Night so that was pretty funny.