Happy Gilmore 2, the belated Netflix sequel to the Adam Sandler comedy classic<\/a>, has sparked outrage among fans due to its very shocking opening sequence.<\/p>\n Released in 1996, the original Happy Gilmore<\/a> revolved around a failed ice hockey player who reinvents himself as a golf pro to raise money for his grandmother. While ascending the ranks of golf, Sandler\u2019s Happy falls in love with a public relations expert named Virginia (played by future Modern Family star Julie Bowen).<\/p>\n *Spoilers follow*<\/strong><\/p>\n While audiences were expecting more of the same comedy from the new sequel<\/a>, many were thrown off by the darkness of the film\u2019s first few minutes. It sees Happy accidentally kill Virginia in a freak golf accident, leaving him to take care of their five children.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they did to the GOAT Virginia Venit in Happy Gilmore 2 was almost a fatal flaw in the movie,\u201d one person tweeted on X\/Twitter. \u201cNeeded much more Julie Bowen.\u201d<\/p>\n Another person wrote that the film was \u201coff to a terrible start\u201d due to Virginia\u2019s death, something echoed by a third viewer: \u201cHappy Gilmore kills Virginia in the first three minutes of the movie. And we\u2019re just supposed to let that go and move on to a boring story that\u2019s not funny. What a flick!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExtremely disappointed with the decision to kill Virginia off,\u201d tweeted another Happy Gilmore fan. \u201cTheir dynamic could have made this movie.\u201d<\/p>\n Another person criticised the film for its overall use of Virginia, as she reappears in several scenes throughout the sequel as a ghostly apparition.<\/p>\n \u201cThis movie suffered from the get go by [killing] Virginia, just an all around dumb starting off point considering she kept popping up anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the backlash, the film\u2019s director Kyle Newacheck has defended the decision to kill off the character.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always a concern when you\u2019re playing with that type of darkness,\u201d he told Slash Film<\/a>. \u201cBut I don\u2019t know, I was never really concerned because it is the driving force [of the film]. If you pull that out, then what do you have? You don\u2019t have anything real.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first read the screenplay, [Virginia\u2019s death is] like page five, and I was glued when that happened. So I knew what that feeling felt like, and I knew that people could get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n He also compared Virginia\u2019s early death to the opening of the original Happy Gilmore, in which Happy watches his father be killed by a stray hockey puck as a child.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s darkness in the first one,\u201d Newacheck continued. \u201cThere\u2019s real dark humour. So I just felt it [was] fitting.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Julie](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/HG2_20240910_01341_R.jpeg\")
Julie Bowen and Adam Sandler in \u2018Happy Gilmore 2\u2019 (Scott Yamano\/Netflix)<\/p>\n