Jon Favreau casting and writing himself to play Happy Hogan in the first Iron Man movie will always be one of those “Hey, why not?” stories that unexpectedly turn into multiple gigs spread out over an entire universe of films and television. Now, 15 years after his first appearance as Happy, he gets a starring gig in his own episode of television.

And, it was a lot of fun! Was ur a great bit of storytelling? I don’t think so, but it was FUN! That’s what I care about.

Once they started talking about “the Hulk’s blood” in this episode, I knew we were getting a Hulked out Happy or Darcy Lewis. Either would’ve been fine by me. So, we got a Happy Hulk, and I have googled researched that he was called The Freak in some comics back in the day? I love the originality of some comic book character names.

I enjoyed the return of Justin Hammer here. Sam Rockwell is fantastic, and you can always use more Sam Rockwell. Also, Maria Hill’s quick quip to Hammer calling himself Tony Stark’s greatest adversary was brilliant and made me laugh out loud: “Greatest adversary? What are you a wealth tax?”

The back and forth between Happy and Darcy was excellent in this episode. It was a combo that I didn’t know I needed together. Kat Dennings is always really good as Darcy, and she doesn’t miss her either.

The fight between Happy Hulk and Hammer in the Hulkbuster armor was fun as well. They made excellent use of the environment throughout the battle. Also, Hammer calling him “Hulk Hogan” made me laugh, and I was a bit angry that it hadn’t occurred to me already.

Overall, this was an excellent little Christmas episode, and I had a great time.