Violent Night 2 Trailer Brings In Kristen Bell And A Big Sword To Save Santa Claus
by Ethan Anderton · /FilmBack in 2022, Christmas got a dose of bloody violence and dark comedy, courtesy of director Tommy Wirkola and "Stranger Things" star David Harbour, in the form of "Violent Night." The twisted Christmas action flick and instant holiday classic finds Santa Claus (Harbour) encountering a hostage situation on Christmas Eve, and he's the only one who can save a little girl and her wealthy family from a grisly fate at the hands of some law-breakers who are definitely on St. Nick's naughty list. With the help of some makeshift household weapons and traps, a trusty hammer, and a bit of Christmas magic, Santa Claus lived to fight another day and deliver presents around the world. He also broke John Leguizamo's entire body by magicking himself up a chimney. Merry Christmas!
With a box office haul of just over $76 million, "Violent Night" was a modest R-rated success, and that was enough to convince Universal to bring Santa back for another round. The first "Violent Night 2" trailer has just arrived, expanding the lore of St. Nick by introducing his wife, played by "Frozen" star Kristen Bell. When it comes to Santa Claus being on the naughty list, losing his powers, and being forced to reckon with a mall full of armed criminals led by Jared Harris ("Chernobyl"), Mrs. Claus isn't simply going to ... let it go. (See what we did there?)
Watch the first "Violent Night 2" trailer above, and keep reading to find out what you can expect from the action sequel, according to Wirkola and producer Kelly McCormick (who spoke with us about the movie ahead of the trailer's release).
Expect more details on Santa Claus' Viking mythos in Violent Night 2
If you thought Santa Claus was the one in charge of the naughty list, think again. "Violent Night 2" shows us that there's still a lot about Christmas magic that Santa doesn't understand, making great use of an innocuous line from the end of the first "Violent Night" movie. Tommy Wirkola explained the mystery behind Santa ending up on the naughty list:
"There's a line in the first one that we do repeat in the sequel, where it's, "Christmas magic, I don't even understand it myself." We still want to keep it a little bit confusing for Santa at times. But yeah, he does end up on the naughty list for a variety of reasons that actually ties into the first film and the lessons he took from that."
That's not the only detail from the first movie that will be expanded upon further in the sequel. Wirkola teased:
"The one thing that we learned from the first one, especially in the years after it came out, watching Twitter and David [Harbour], especially when he went to Comic-Cons and spoke to fans, he said one thing that people always asked him about was Santa's backstory and how he became Santa Claus and the Viking past and all that stuff. So, of course, going into this one, we wanted to give people a little bit more of that without going overboard."
Kelly McCormick echoed that sentiment, adding, "There is the lore that maybe he's a Viking, which we may have gone into a little deeper in the next one, spoiler alert. But then can he really make his way through an awesome, chaotic, crazy fight without just a little bit of magic? And I think we set him up to be able to do that really well."
Mrs. Claus almost appeared in the first Violent Night
As for the new characters getting in on the bloody holiday fun this time, you might have noticed Joe Pantoliano (lovingly known as Joey Pants) popping up. Tommy Wirkola explained what his role in the movie is:
"He plays the toymaker. He has his toy store in the mall, an old school toy store, and Santa comes into contact with him, and they form a bond, and a lot of the emotion in the movie is tied to him. Like so many fellow movie lovers, I'm such a huge fan of him and working with him was such a joy."
But, of course, the major reveal here is the fact that Mrs. Claus comes in, played by Kristen Bell. She's wielding a big sword, and she's not going to let anyone mess with her husband. Mrs. Claus was originally intended to have an introduction in the first movie, as Kelly McCormick explained:
"We almost put a button in the back of 'Violent Night' with Mrs. Claus. And if we would've done that, she would've been somebody totally different in this one, and it would've been a different movie if she was already introduced."
Thankfully, as McCormick told it, "Just kind of through divine intervention, Kristen just sort of appeared." Bell has a long friendship with David Harbour, which certainly helped secure her in the role, but McCormick thought, "'Oh my God, we'll never get her. Are you kidding? She's busy and she's amazing. I don't even know. That's like Christmas happening for the movie if we get Kristen.'"
We all know how that turned out now. The producer added, "She's just, honestly, perfect. What she does as a character is this very loving sort of push toward Santa understanding how to get back on the nice list and also kicking major ass. Having the permission to do that because she's just Kristen Bell as Mrs. Claus. She's just that cool."
"Violent Night 2" opens in theaters on December 4, 2026. You can currently stream the first "Violent Night" on Netflix.