The Avengers Are In Full-On Christmas Mode To Battle A New Foe In Exclusive What If Season 2 Clip

If you’re looking for something to watch to celebrate a holiday, Marvel Studios has you covered on a couple fronts. For Halloween, there is the spooky Werewolf By Night special that premiered on Disney+ in 2022, and if you’re looking for some Christmas viewing, you have a few options. Iron Man 3 (in classic Shane Black style) is set around the end-of-year holiday, and the miniseries Hawkeye also has the Christmas spirit. Soon, fans will also be able to add an episode of What If…?, as previewed in the exclusive clip above.

The first two episodes of What If…? Season 2 are now available to stream with a Disney+ subscription, but the show has a treat lined up to debut on Christmas Eve. The clip above comes from the opening scene of “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” and in addition to featuring a special version of “Twas The Night Before Christmas” from Jeffrey Wright’s The Watcher, it features the members of the Avengers in full holiday mode… well, with the exception of Thor, who is missing amid a big monster battle.

While the episodes in Season 1 of What If…? were designed to each reflect a specific existing Marvel Cinematic Universe title, Season 2 is freestyling a bit more and not letting the canon handcuff creative opportunities. This in part allows for homage to titles outside of the MCU, and after seeing the Blade Runner-esque “What If… Nebula Joined The Nova Corps?” it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that the Christmas episode is a spin on Die Hard.

I won’t give away too much about the story in order to maintain surprises (that includes characters who appear outside of those who are featured in the clip above), but as the title implies, it’s Happy Hogan who is pulling John McClane duties, and it’s Jon Favreau voicing the character. It also gives us Captain America and Black Widow dressed as an elf and in a tiara, respectively, which is delightful.

What If…? Season 2 will be three deep after tomorrow, but there is plenty more to come, and it’s all coming quickly. Matching Season 1, it’s a nine episode run, and new episodes are premiering every day between now and December 30. The full season includes a great number of MCU stars voicing their alternate universe counterparts on beyond Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, with other exciting examples including Josh Brolin as Thanos, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and many more.

Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more about What If…? Season 2 – including stories from my interview with series star Jeffrey Wright, and you can keep track of everything that’s going on with the MCU in the months and years ahead with our Upcoming Marvel Movies and Upcoming Marvel TV guides.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.