David Harbour’s Santa Claus kicks ass in Violent Night’s first trailer

David Harbour is well-known for being the charming chief of police Jim Hopper. Stranger ThingsAnd the monster-killing, cantankerous Hellboy slayer, in the 2019 reboot, finally has a new role: an unassuming, name-taking Santa Claus.

This trailer is the first. Violent nightThe Black Christmas Comedy Action Film, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters director Tommy Wirkola, a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family’s compound on Christmas Eve, hoping to make off with $300 million scot-free. Unfortunately for them, they’ll have to go through Harbour’s Saint Nick first, who is surprisingly a lot less jolly and a lot more homicidal than most folks would expect.

It is basically a film. Die HardExcept John McClane does not have magical abilities related to global toys delivery. He can only crawl through broken glass and navigate air ducts. It certainly follows in the tried and tested tradition of action thrillers that pit seemingly benign everyman in death-defying high-stakes scenarios, only this time it’s, y’know, the living embodiment of holiday cheer and merriment.

Violent Night opens in theatres Dec. 2.