The Happy Gilmore 2 Trailer Seemingly Teases A Grim Fate For Julie Bowen's Virginia

"Happy Gilmore 2" is coming to Netflix this summer, and thanks to a long history of underwhelming comedy sequels, it already has an uphill battle. Combine that with the fact that Adam Sandler's comedies for the past 20 years have been largely disappointing and, in many cases, downright awful, and our excitement probably isn't quite as high as we'd like it to be.

Even so, Netflix debuted a new trailer for the golf comedy sequel during its big TUDUM presentation over the weekend, and it gave us a pretty good idea of Happy Gilmore's story this time around. He's getting back into golf after being out of the sport for a long time. There are also a bunch of callbacks to the original movie, maybe a little too many, making us worry that these are the best bits in the film. But there's one detail that was rather surprising, not to mention a little disappointing, at least if our presumption turns out to be accurate.

While we're seeing the return of "Happy Gilmore" supporting stars like Christopher McDonald as the conniving Shooter McGavin and "Severance" executive producer Ben Stiller as the disgruntled nursing home orderly Hal, there's not a lot to be seen of Happy's love interest: the public relations woman named Virginia Venit, played by "Modern Family" star Julie Bowen. In fact, the few appearances that we've seen in the trailers so far, especially this most recent one, would seem to indicate that Virginia either dies before "Happy Gilmore 2" begins or perhaps dies at the beginning of the follow-up movie.

Let's dig into the evidence that points to Virginia being dead in "Happy Gilmore 2."

This is the biggest piece of evidence that points to the potential of Virginia's death coming about in "Happy Gilmore 2." During a montage of scenes that show Happy trying to get back into golf, the hockey player turned professional golfer laments that he doesn't know where to start. That's when we cut to a shot of Virginia in a misty garden, where she tells him, "Let them see the Happy that I fell in love with."

Now, we're not sure whether she's telling him this as advice for what to do with raising their children — daughter Vienna (Sunny Sandler of "You Are So Not Invited to My Bar Mitzvah"), who has dreams of being a ballerina, and four grown sons named Bobby (Phil Schneider), Gordie (Maxwell Jacob Friedman), Wayne (Ethan Cutkosky), and Terry (Conor Sherry) — or if this is a pep talk to help him out of a rut on the golf course, but one thing's for sure: This is definitely Happy's imaginary "happy place" from the original movie. Aside from the garden looking the same, it's the mist around Virginia that gives it away.

This would seem to imply that she's no longer around, and she's coming to Happy in his mind to help him feel better. But the question is: What happened to Virginia?

While there aren't any hints regarding what happens to Virginia in "Happy GIlmore 2," there's at least one shot (seen above) that hints at tragedy. Happy and Sunny are slightly out of focus as they embrace Virginia, and she has tears welling up in her eyes. Could this be a moment where Virginia suddenly realizes something is wrong? Does it occur in Sunny's happy place? Right before this shot, Happy says to Sunny, "Remember the happy place I went to? You go to yours." Perhaps her happy place, the one she presumably needs for some kind of ballet audition or recital, involves her mother being around again.

Another plausible indicator that Virginia has passed comes in the final moments of the trailer, where Happy runs into none other than his old rival, Shooter McGavin. And where do the pair run into each other? A graveyard. Now, it's entirely possible that Happy is visiting his grandmother, who has surely passed away by now. But he could also be visiting the grave of Virginia, as he feels lost without her.

After all, it's clear in the trailer that Happy and his family have moved out of his grandma's old house (which Happy's grandfather built with his bare hands), and it would stand to reason that this was necessary because they couldn't afford it after Virginia's death, especially if Happy wasn't golfing anymore. There's also that moment where former pro golfer Jon Daly asks Happy how he's going to afford to put Vienna through ballet school. Not to mention, the house they live in doesn't look like it's in the best part of town, either.

Therefore, it's very likely that Happy dropped out of golf because he lost his real-life happy place with Virginia, and now, he's getting back into the game so he can afford to help make his daughter's dreams come true.

Perhaps the biggest argument against the idea of Virginia dying is that an interview with Julie Bowen on "The TODAY Show" had her confirming that Virginia and Happy are still together in "Happy Gilmore 2." 

However, that doesn't mean Virginia can't die at the beginning of the movie after some gaps have been filled in, like setting up the birth of their children. (There's even a flashback shot featuring a de-aged Sandler and Bowen with a toddler in the opening of the new trailer.) Let's also not forget that the original "Happy Gilmore" began with Happy filling the audience in on what happened in his life as a child, right up until the present day of the story. So, we'll likely get the same treatment here, and there's a chance he might cover Virginia's death in that sequence, seeing as he did the same thing with his father's sudden death in the first movie.

Beyond that, there are two potential moments that take a bit away from that theory. Each of them could easily be explained to fit into this theory as well, but we just want to cover our bases.

First of all, the teaser trailer for "Happy Gilmore" has a quick shot of Virginia in the crowd at a golf tournament (seen above), where she seems to be waving at Happy. But there's something about this shot that makes it seem like Happy is the only one who sees her. Maybe that's something that initially throws him off, until he's able to come to terms with her death.

Netflix

Secondly, there's a shot of Virginia talking to Happy on what appears to be the porch of grandma's house, where she says, "We're not done with golf," before we hear the same line from the second trailer, "Let them see the Happy that I fell in love with." But again, this moment could be something that only Happy is seeing, and maybe once he starts to soften, having seen Virginia seemingly pop up unexpectedly, he finally gets a chance to speak with her spirit.

It wouldn't be out of the ordinary, especially when you consider the fact that Happy received a message from Chubbs in his happy place, as well as seeing the ghosts of Chubbs, the alligator he assaulted, and Abraham Lincoln in a cloud above grandma's house at the end of the original movie.

While we'd much prefer if Virginia was alive, I suppose if you need to upend Happy's presumed happy ending, this is the easiest way to do it. Just a shame that it means fridging Virginia Venit. 

We'll just have to see what happens when "Happy Gilmore 2" hits Netflix on July 25, 2025.