Marvel’s Christmas Die Hard parody of “What If” resolves Iron Man 2 again

Forget the debate about whether Die Hard is a Christmas film because it obviously is and there are more pressing things: How, is What if…?‘S Die Hard-Spoofing Christmas episode is actually a better one Ironman 2 as Ironman 2?

I admit that there is a recency bias. What if…? Season 2 premiered earlier this month and the episode in question – in which Darcy from the Thor films and Happy Hogan organize a Christmas party at Avengers Tower – was just released on Christmas Eve. But 13 years apart Ironman 2I’m willing to make bold MCU claims that go beyond “it’s bad.” Director Jon Favreau did a lot right in his sloppy 2010 sequel and 30-minute ode to it Die Hard, What if…? reminds us of a victory: Sam Rockwell was a perfect Justin Hammer. We just didn’t know much about him back then.

Iron Man 2 (which was written spontaneously by Favreau, star Robert Downey Jr. and based on many reports tropical thunder(Justin Theroux) is a mess. The film flirts with Tonys Demon in a bottle Arc tries and fails to make a character out of Mickey Rourke’s grunting, cockatoo-snuggling Whiplash, hastily promotes Rhodey to War Machine and Nick Fury to a full-on Avengers wrangler, introduces Natasha Romanoff in the sickest way imaginable can, and gives Elon Musk a cameo that looks increasingly worse as the days go by. Pretty bad movie!

But Favreau also cast Sam Rockwell as weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer. In an alternate universe, he was the central villain, the slimy alternative to Tony Stark who could keep up with the one-liners. In Ironman 2 He is a plot device to get Iron Man to fight armored drones. But speaking of alternate universes, What if…? has come to his rescue.

Photo: Paramount/Everett Collection

What if…? The third episode of season two imagines what could have happened after the events of Ironman 2. In this world, Hammer still hijacked the Stark Expo, used Tony’s technology against the hero, and ended up in prison for his misdeeds. But Hammer didn’t grow in the slammer – it festered. And when he got out, he made his way to Stark Tower to throw Hans Gruber at Stark during the Avengers Holiday Gala.

Not every well-known Marvel actor has returned to voice their characters What if…?; Since the first season, Mark Wingert and Lake Bell have done a shockingly good job reproducing the vocal performances of Iron Man and Black Widow, as previously performed by Downey Jr. and Scarlett Johansson. But the win here is getting Rockwell back as Justin Hammer, firing off cackling Christmas puns like they were Mark 46 armor bullets. He lives for a kind of chaos Ironman 2 I just didn’t care for someone who could be so evil.

As Tony and his fellow Avengers finally show up to save the day – get ready to see Captain America in an elf costume – What if…? gives another Ironman 2 Player to his credit: Happy Hogan. Maybe Favreau was too modest to afford a decent backdrop in either Iron Man movie, but here he’s John McClane, crawling through vents, outrunning gunmen and swinging through glass thanks to a few drops of Hulk blood Window to smash skulls. Favreau also returns to voice the character, which not only elevates her acting but also highlights the “what if” of it all – what if that had been Ironman 2 the whole time?

Writers AC Bradley and Matthew Chauncey and director Bryan Andrews avoid overloading the holiday treat with too much connectivity or lore – until the end it’s really just Happy vs. Hammer, with explosive set pieces courtesy of the Iron Legion. In a way, it’s a card from Shane Black’s script, which he would wisely use to make a down-to-earth, Christmas-themed Marvel film himself Iron Man 3.

We can’t undo what’s been done, so nothing will replace it Ironman 2 in the ranking of Marvel films, but What if…? at least justifies its existence in a way that no Marvel story has really done. But if it’s true that Hammer is sitting in a prison cell somewhere rotting, perhaps the MCU animated alternate universe anthology series can make someone realize that the franchise is sitting on gold. Bring Sam Rockwell back into the game – here we go Lightning? – stat.