Happy Gilmore 2 features the most shocking death of any Adam Sandler movie

This post contains spoilers from Happy Gilmore 2 from this point forward.

Almost three decades since first charming us on the big screen, Happy Gilmore has finally made his triumphant return! Adam Sandler steps back onto the golf green in Happy Gilmore 2, which exclusively premiered on Netflix on July 25, nearly 30 years after the 1996 original. It's been a sequel Sandler fans have been looking forward to, and it's here and full of surprises!

Happy Gilmore 2 features a vast number of cameos from Sandler's past collaborators to professional athletes like Travis Kelce, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and John Daly, and even a memorable appearance from Eminem. There's a lot of fun to be had! But there's one moment that will certainly get fans talking, and it's by far the most shocking death in any of Sandler's movies.

How Virginia dies in Happy Gilmore 2

That's right, Julie Bowen's character Virginia Venit Gilmore dies within the first five minutes of Happy Gilmore 2. In the beginning of the sequel, Happy explains what he's been up to for the past three decades, narrating over flashbacks. Happy and Virginia got married and had four sons, all while Happy continued to be successful in the world of professional golfing.

Although Happy had leveraged his four children into a brand deal with Trojan condoms, he and Virginia had their fifth and final child, a daughter named Vienna (who later grows up and is played by Sandler's real-life daughter Sunny Sandler). Even though Happy considers retiring from golf, Virginia insists that they aren't done with the sport just yet, which is when tragedy strikes.

During a golf tournament taking place on Mother's Day, Happy hits a ball with his driver across the green and it sails all the way across to the course to where Virginia is standing on the sidelines watching an interview be conducted. Suddenly, the ball Happy hit tragically heads straight for Virginia and kills her. Happy immediately puts his club down and rushes toward her.

For those who might be concerned, we only see the ball coming at Virginia from her perspective. The scene doesn't cut to show the ball actually hitting her or to show her body. It's simply understood that the ball hit her with enough force to kill her, but there's no gratuitous shot of Bowen looking bloodied or even an overwhelmingly tragic scene of Happy reacting to her death by her side.

Even though Bowen's character dies early on in the movie, she appears in additional scenes in dream sequences and as a ghost for Happy to interact with. The Modern Family actress, who previously reunited with Sandler in the 2020 Netflix Halloween movie Hubie Halloween, said that she was "thrilled" to return for the sequel and understood the twist needed to serve Happy's story.

"Happy is in pain," said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. "And he had to get there somehow. And I contribute to the pain through the heart. I think it is very relatable and wonderful. I loved it." Bowen even said her death scene was "fun to shoot."

Virginia's death is used as the driving force of the sequel. After she dies, Happy loses his career and his home when he gives up golf and starts drinking. He works a regular job at a grocery store, but he's moved to pick up his clubs once again in order to help pay the tuition for Vienna's ballet school. Thus begins the hilarious turn of events that everyone came to the movie for in the first place.

We definitely didn't see Virginia's death coming from a mile away! Sandler and Bowen certainly didn't reveal the twist while promoting the movie, as that might have frustrated some fans before even watching. There have been some tragic and even shocking deaths in Adam Sandler movies in the past, but Virginia Venit being accidentally killed by Happy Gilmore? Now that takes the cake.

Happy Gilmore 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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