What If…? “Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?” Review

Season 2 Episode 3 – When Avengers Tower is attacked during the holiday party, Happy Hogan must prove his hero chops.

Please note, our reviews are based on likes and dislikes. These contain significant spoilers. If you haven’t already watched the episode, we recommend that you click off the article and come back once you have watched the episode. Enjoy!

What I Liked

1. I’ve always wondered what happened to Justin Hammer after Iron Man 2. This episode has done a great job of explaining what happened afterward, even though it’s a what-if story. This is the issue sometimes with these villains, we never hear about or from them again.

2. Justin Hammer is going for the Hulk blood. That’s his objective here to use it for himself. Fortunately but not so fortunately, Happy gets to it first. We’re fully aware Happy is clumsy so you can already predict what happens next. The needle goes straight into his leg and the injector activates. This is interesting.

3. Happy slowly turns purple and becomes much stronger. He tries to call the Avengers individually but they’re all too busy to assist, so he realises his strength instead. It’s kind of intriguing to see Happy become Hulk-like because of the way he is.

4. Happy just decimated all of the Iron Man bots with such ease. I like this cocky arrogant attitude from Happy now he’s got the power to match it. He’s always had the bravery to approach a fight but never had anything to back it up so this is super entertaining.

5. During the Happy vs Hulkbuster fight, Hammer uses the same quick punch Tony did in Age of Ultron against Hulk so this was a nice throwback. The Avengers show up but they’re confused so they attack Happy until they stun him before Darcy steps in.

What I Disliked

Nothing to report.

Favorite Moment

Hammer in the Hulkbuster?!! Yes, please!! I don’t need to add much more into this but the moment he put the Hulkbuster armor on, I was in awe. I’ll never not love it when the Hulkbuster comes into play.

Standout Character

It’s Happy. He was the star character of this episode and he was so entertaining. From the moment the episode started through to the end. I will be honest, I miss this side of Happy, not the Happy we see crying over Aunt May in No Way Home.

Verdict

A Christmas special episode coming on Christmas Eve to make the day even more festive is brilliant. Marvel timed this episode brilliantly. All in all, though, this was a fantastic episode that had a solid story and it was action-packed. Merry Christmas!

Rating 9.8/10

Knuckles is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Try it FREE!