Meanwhile, Sandler and Bowen reacted to Bowen’s shocking “Happy Gilmore 2” death during an interview with Entertainment Weekly published shortly after the movie’s release. The “Modern Family” star suggested that her character needed to die to drive Happy and the events of the film.

Richard Kiel, an iconic Bond villain who portrayed a giant Happy Gilmore fan who intimidates rival Shooter McGavin in the first film, is honored by having his character's son appear in the sequel. Kiel died at 74 in 2014.

Director Kyle Newacheck has shared his initial reaction to the surprising plot development at the start of Happy Gilmore 2, which premiered on Netflix on July 25. Speaking to PEOPLE, Newacheck revealed he was unaware of the major storyline involving Julie Bowen’s character, Virginia Venit, until reading the completed screenplay.

The opening minutes of the long-awaited Happy Gilmore sequel reveal a legacy character has been shockingly killed off.

Leave it to Adam Sandler to pull off a major twist no one saw coming. Nearly 20 years after the release of Happy Gilmore, Sandler and many familiar faces returned for Happy Gilmore 2, which premiered July 25 on Netflix.

Julie Bowen returns as Virginia Venit in 'Happy Gilmore 2' after fearing she'd be replaced by a younger star, sharing her surprise and excitement on the 'Inside of You' podcast.

Happy Gilmore 2 is coming to Netflix this summer. However, the movie's trailers seem to tease an unfortunate turn for Julie Bowen's Virginia Venit.

When Netflix dropped the official Happy Gilmore 2 trailer at the Tudum event, fans of the original were thrilled to see Julie Bowen reprise her role as Virginia Venit. NEWSLETTERS Emailed Daily.

Adam Sandler and Julie Bowen will be reprising their roles of Happy Gilmore and Virginia Venit, whom they portrayed in the original 1996 sports comedy. The sequel takes.

After dropping Vienna off at the airport, Happy looks up at the sky and sees Virginia (as well as Bob Barker) once again. “You’re okay,” she says, and he mouths a kiss to his dead wife. Happy’s finally ready to move forward with his life, golf clubs and all.

Bowen reprises her character, Virginia Venit, in the comedy classic's second installment. Within the first four minutes of the film, Venit — who's since married Happy, welcomed five kids together and started a family — gets killed off, a tragedy caused by her husband.