What If’s Christmas Episode Was Inspired By Surprising TV Show

There was a lot to enjoy in the second season of Marvel’s What If…?, including the Christmas episode, “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” The holiday-themed episode delighted fans with the return of a fan-favorite MCU villain, and Marvel Studios had a lot of fun by spreading holiday cheer with various posters and even a special Spotify playlist. The episode was an homage to Die Hard and saw Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) taking on the role of Bruce Willis’ John McClane. While the 1988 film was the obvious inspiration for the episode, there was also a television show that inspired the What If…? writers along the way.

“That was the episode that we were writing when the world shut down,” head writer A.C. Bradley told IGN, referring to the pandemic lockdowns. “Actually, our last day in the office was [Matt Chauncey and I] watching the Quentin Tarantino episodes, ‘The Box’ [Parts I and II] of Alias. We had it on because we just both love Alias so much and it’s kind of their dark Die Hard episode. So we were watching that as we were breaking the show, and that was literally our last time together.” 

Jon Favreau Wanted To Play The Freak:

In “What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?,” Happy accidentally gets injected with Hulk blood, which turns him into The Freak, a character from the comics. During Bradley’s chat with IGN, she revealed that Favreau suggested adding The Freak to What If…?. 

“He read the two episodes that he would be appearing in Season 1 and he called up and said, ‘I’ll do the show. But here’s the deal. I want to headline Season 2, and I want to be The Freak.’ And we’re like, ‘Okay! Let’s figure this out,’” Bradley shared.

“Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with The Freak beforehand. It’s a very deep cut,” she continued. “But as we were talking about Favreau and The Freak, we were like, ‘Favreau did Elf, one of the best modern Christmas movies, so we pitched it as Die Hard, and Marvel let us do this as a Christmas episode.”

What Is Season 2 of What If…? About? 

You can read Marvel Studios’ official synopsis here: “Season two of What If…? continues the journey as The Watcher guides viewers through the vast multiverse, introducing brand new and familiar faces throughout the MCU. The series questions, revisits, and twists classic Marvel Cinematic moments with an incredible voice cast that includes a host of stars who reprise their iconic roles. Featuring fan-favorite characters this season like Nebula, Hela, and Happy Hogan, episodes are directed by executive producer Bryan Andrews with executive producer AC Bradley as head writer.”

The episode titles of What If…? Season 2 are as follows: “What if Nabula Joined the Nova Corps?”; What If Peter Quill Attacked Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”; “What If Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”; “What If Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”; “What if Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper?”; “What if Kahhori Reshaped the World?”; “What If Hela Found the Ten Rings?”; “What if The Avengers Assembled in 1602?”; and “What if Strange Supreme Intervened?.”

Did you enjoy the second season of What If…? Tell us in the comments!