Violent Night was a surprising, fun-filled action flick with equal parts holiday cheer and impactful violence. David Harbor’s Santa Claus reminded us exactly what the holidays are for by busting heads and sipping scotch, all while utilizing the cheery character for a variety of creative fight scenes. It marks director Tommy Wirkola’s most recent feature, and given its success with commercial audiences, you can bet that a sequel is already on the cards. In fact, based on an exclusive report by The Wrap, it’s already in active development.
The original film took quite a few creative liberties with the character of Santa Claus, introducing a handful of ideas that allude to the character’s lengthy history — including his blood-soaked origins. However, the first film more closely followed the conflict between the members of a rich family, with Santa Claus’ involvement being relegated to saving them while regaining the Christmas spirit. Should we see Violent Night 2 happen, what exactly do we want to see from the skull-splitting Santa Claus?
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David Harbor Returning as Santa
Universal Pictures
It’s hard to deny that David Harbor’s Santa Claus stole the show in Violent Night. Starting out as a disinterested drunkard, we gradually see Santa’s interest in the holiday rekindled through the classic trope of a child’s passion for the season. Of course, it helps that he got to spread some holly jolly beatings to those on the naughty list.
Underneath the booze, the violence, and oodles of blood, there’s a genuinely interesting interpretation of the character. Call it hand-waving if you want, but a Santa that seemingly doesn’t understand how his own modern depiction functions, in reality, is an intriguing look at the character. Whether it’s the magic that allows his bag of presents to pull out just about anything, to how he can shoot up chimneys like a rocket, there’s a mystical nature to the character that was seemingly assigned to him without his own knowledge. It sounds silly to think about, considering it’s Santa Claus, but it’s still a unique take on the classic character. Combine that with the brief glimpses we get into Santa’s historical past as Nikamund the Red, a hulking Viking warrior who once reveled in bloodlust on the battlefield, and you have a character that’s prime material to be explored in future films.
There’s a lot we simply don’t know about Santa Claus. An estranged relationship with Mrs. Claus is suggested several times throughout, and she even gifts him his old “Skull Splitter” hammer at the end of the film, but beyond his re-evaluation of the holiday, we really don’t get to see what he’s all about. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more of him — and David Harbour, specifically — in Violent Night 2.
More Holiday-Themed Mayhem
While we got some fun set pieces in the first Violent Night film, from a handful of Home Alone homages to a few fights involving Santa Claus’ magic, the rest of the film’s action scenes relied more on Santa swinging a giant sledgehammer around. It’s still entertaining, and was foreshadowed well enough, but it’s a little lacking compared to what the film promises early on. Should we see Violent Night 2 take a similar violent edge, we want the holiday to play a bigger impact on its kills. After all, isn’t that why we watched the first one to begin with?
Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, for instance, are swept away for a majority of the film, only ever appearing to bookend Santa’s brawl at the house. You’d think that with a dozen muscle-bound magical reindeer, there’d be room for at least one action sequence featuring them kicking and biting a group of mercenaries. Imagine the hilarity of seeing an airborne Santa with a mounted machine gun on his sleigh, raining bullets down as if they were frenzied snowflakes.
Tommy Wirkola has stated his desire to expand the world and scope that was introduced in the first film, citing material like Mrs. Claus, the North Pole, and even Santa’s elves being left behind on the cutting room floor. Violent Night 2 will hopefully capitalize on the opportunity it’s been given to utilize these elements in creating an even more zany action film compared to its predecessor.
Even More Holiday Characters
A holiday-themed film faces an interesting challenge when tasked with a sequel. Should it double down on the holiday it’s now associated with, or try something new? A similar situation occurred with the Christopher Meloni-led SyFy series Happy!, where the second season instead focused on Easter instead of the snowy holiday. But even if Violent Night takes place around December once again, who’s to say that we can’t see more holiday characters appear?
Maybe the Elf on a Shelf could come down from above the fireplace and knock some heads around. Maybe as Santa’s powers become stronger, he could utilize his magic to bring toys to life, or fashion gingerbread men into powerful allies. If you’re willing to shrug and not justify any of Santa’s abilities the first time around, why not go completely wild with it in the sequel?
Are some of these ideas terrible? Sure, you could say that. But then again, this is a Santa-themed action movie we’re talking about, directed by the same person that previously directed two comical Nazi zombie films. Judging from how audiences enjoyed the first film enough to justify a sequel, we can only hope that Violent Night 2 will up the ante and show off the kind of zaniness only a festive-action flick could muster.
