It was late 2016. Red-band trailers were the kings of YouTube. And then, Willie Soke came back. The first Bad Santa 2 trailer dropped like a brick through a window, instantly reminding everyone why Billy Bob Thornton’s drunken, misanthropic department store thief was the anti-hero we didn't know we needed—or maybe the one we deserved. It had been thirteen years since the original Terry Zwigoff masterpiece redefined the holiday comedy. Fans were nervous. Could lightning strike twice, or were we just looking at a cynical cash grab wrapped in cheap tinsel?
Honestly, watching that first teaser was a trip. You had the familiar, mournful notes of classical music clashing against the sound of Willie coughing his lungs out in a cheap suit. It didn't try to be "elevated." It didn't try to be PC. It was just raw, filthy, and strangely nostalgic.
The Anatomy of the Bad Santa 2 Trailer: Pure Chaos
The marketing team knew exactly what they were doing. They leaned heavily into the "Red Band" territory. You remember those, right? The age-restricted clips that allowed for all the F-bombs and crude visual gags that a standard green-band trailer would have to scrub clean. The Bad Santa 2 trailer didn't hold back. It gave us the return of Marcus (Tony Cox) and, most importantly, introduced Kathy Bates as Willie’s estranged, equally degenerate mother, Sunny Soke.
Seeing Bates in a mohawk, covered in tattoos, trading insults with Thornton was the highlight. It promised a deeper look into why Willie is such a disaster. If your mom is Kathy Bates in a biker vest screaming profanities at you, you're probably not growing up to be a well-adjusted member of society. That’s just science.
The pacing of the trailer was frenetic. One second you’re watching Thurman Merman—now a massive, grown-up version of the curly-haired kid from the first flick—asking about "sandwiches," and the next, Willie is getting punched in the groin. It felt like a reunion with the worst people you know. But you missed them.
Why the Teaser Worked (And Why It Worried People)
Marketing is a weird beast. A trailer has to sell a movie, but it also has to manage expectations. The original Bad Santa (2003) succeeded because it had a soul buried under all that vomit and bile. It was a story about a broken man finding a tiny, microscopic shred of humanity through a weird kid.
When the Bad Santa 2 trailer hit screens, the immediate reaction was split. On one hand: "Hell yeah, more Billy Bob!" On the other: "Is this just the same jokes but louder?"
- The return of Brett Kelly as Thurman Merman was a masterstroke of casting.
- The Chicago setting felt grittier and colder than the sunny mall aesthetic of the first film.
- The heist plot—robbing a crooked charity on Christmas Eve—was classic noir-comedy fodder.
But some critics felt the trailer relied a bit too much on "shock value" compared to the witty, dry cynicism of the original script by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa. This time around, the directing duties went to Mark Waters (Mean Girls), and the tone shifted. It was broader. It was louder. It was, in many ways, exactly what the trailers promised: a middle finger to holiday cheer.
Nostalgia vs. Reality in Comedy Sequels
Comedy sequels are notoriously difficult. Think about Zoolander 2 or Dumb and Dumber To. They often feel like people trying to catch smoke with their bare hands. The Bad Santa 2 trailer had to fight that perception. It used the iconography of the first film—the suit, the flask, the beard—to trigger a dopamine response in Millennials who grew up quoting the "Fix me a sandwich" line.
If you look closely at the footage, you see the cracks in Willie. Thornton plays him with a little more weariness this time. He’s older. The hangover looks like it hurts more. That’s a detail the trailer actually highlighted well. It wasn't just a romp; it was a miserable man being dragged into one last job by a mother he hates and a partner who tried to kill him last time.
The Kathy Bates Factor
You can't talk about that trailer without mentioning Kathy Bates. She stole every frame. Her addition changed the chemistry. While the first movie was a twisted father-son dynamic between Willie and Thurman, the sequel's marketing leaned into the toxic "mother-son" dynamic. It was a smart move. It gave the audience a reason for the movie to exist beyond just "let's do it again."
She brought a certain prestige to the filth. When an Oscar winner is standing in a bathroom stall talking about things we can't repeat here, you pay attention. It gave the Bad Santa 2 trailer a punch that most R-rated comedies of that era lacked.
What the Bad Santa 2 Trailer Taught Us About Modern Hype
In the years since the film's release, the trailer has lived on as a sort of time capsule for the mid-2010s comedy era. This was right before the massive shift in how studios handled "edgy" humor. The trailer represents one of the last gasps of the truly unapologetic, mean-spirited studio comedy.
Watching it now, you can see the effort to maintain the brand. The music choices—classic carols twisted into minor keys—set the mood perfectly. It told you: "This is going to be uncomfortable." And for fans of the 2003 cult classic, uncomfortable was exactly the point.
🔗 Read more: Tyrese What Am I Going To Do: Why This 2001 Track Still Hits Different
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs and Collectors
If you're looking to revisit this piece of dark comedy history or dive into the lore behind the scenes, here is what you should actually do:
- Watch the Director’s Cut of the original first. To truly appreciate (or critique) the sequel and its marketing, you have to see the Zwigoff cut of the first movie. It’s much darker and less "heartwarming" than the theatrical version, which makes the jump to the sequel feel more natural.
- Compare the Teaser vs. the Full Red Band. If you're a student of film marketing, look at how the teaser trailer for Bad Santa 2 focused on atmosphere, while the full Red Band trailer gave away almost every major gag. It's a textbook example of "over-sharing" in comedy trailers.
- Track down the "Thurman Merman" featurettes. Brett Kelly did several interviews around the time the trailer launched about his physical transformation and returning to the character as an adult. They provide a lot of context for why his role in the trailer felt so jarring but right.
- Check the Soundtrack. The songs used in the Bad Santa 2 trailer and the film itself—like the stuff by The Sonics—are top-tier garage rock. If you want that "grimy Christmas" vibe, the playlist is the way to go.
The Bad Santa 2 trailer served its purpose. It told the world that Willie Soke hadn't grown up, hadn't found Jesus, and hadn't stopped drinking. While the movie itself received mixed reviews compared to the legendary status of the original, the trailer remains a masterclass in how to market "the anti-Christmas." It didn't need to be pretty. It just needed to be loud, rude, and a little bit sad. Just like Willie.