It’s set to be a hilarious Christmas on tonight’s all-new episode of NBC’s Lopez vs. Lopez, though for George it’s not exactly a merry occasion. That’s because George reignites a longtime feud against Santa, and at the center of his ire this season is a Mall Santa played by the delightful Brian Posehn (The Big Bang Theory). Ahead of their Christmas showdown, ComicBook had a chance to speak to Posehn about the stunt-filled showdown with George, working with Lopez and the cast behind the scenes, and his love of Marvel and DC, including his favorite movie Batman of all time.
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While Posehn has played many roles over the years, he’s never had a chance to be a Mall Santa, though perhaps he wasn’t just Santa at the mall. “I feel like I made a good one because everybody on set was like, you’ve never done this before? I’ve done a million comedic parts at this point, but I’ve never played a mall Santa before…or the Santa, maybe. Who knows,” Posehn said.
As for the feud, it’s something George takes quite seriously, and fans will see that play out in a showdown that even includes some stunts. “For George, it’s, yeah, it’s his whole life he’s resented Santa. We get into it. It gets, there may have been stuntmen, there may have been doubles on the set. So you’ll see, you’ll see us doing stuff where you’re like, wow, that 6 foot 7 guy just did that. And it’s, of course, a stuntman helping me out, but it was so fun.”
“Playing off George was a blast. We’d met years before, and I’ve always respected him as a, I’m in the standup world, and he’s one of the best,” Posehn said. “Just to be a part of the show was super fun, but we hit it off right away, and you can tell, I think, in our scenes how much fun we had.”
The whole cast welcomed Posehn with open arms, and Lopez wasn’t the only familiar face from the world of standup on the show. “They were super welcoming and really nice. Everybody, you definitely feel like you’re part of a family while you’re there, and it felt like they’ve been doing it 10 years and not just know three seasons,” Posehn said. “I love when you go to a show and it’s just a well oiled machine and you just get to be part of it. That’s definitely, they know what they’re doing there and everybody’s having a blast. And I’ve known Al Madrigal forever through stand up, so I knew he was on the show. It was cool and we had a blast.”
Posehn would love to come back at some point down the line, that’s something he’s kind of become famous for, as it certainly worked out with some of his other shows like NewsRadio and Big Bang Theory.
“Yeah, you know, I did that on NewsRadio. I’ve done that on other shows, and it always comes off good. And usually somebody will say, hey, we’d love to have you back, and sometimes that pays off. And now that’s a show that I would definitely love to go back and don’t have to be Santa because I was in Santa makeup so I can play a character that looks more like myself,” Posehn said.
“That’s how Big Bang Theory worked out for me, right? The first time I did that show, I don’t even think my character had a name that time, and I just had a scene in the cafeteria. So it was set up that I worked at the school,” Posehn said. “I was a professor, and then the second and third time he was suddenly Bert, but that first time they were like, hey, we’d love to have you back. And I was like, cool. I’m always yeah, just call me.”
Posehn has been a longtime fan of comics and superheroes as well, and 2024 has certainly had its share of big releases in that realm, and 2025 is shaping up to be an even bigger year for the genre. Even with things like Superman and Captain America on the horizon, Posehn isn’t sure anything can beat a huge hit from this year. “How anybody beats Deadpool and Wolverine, the fact that we had one of the best superhero movies ever made last year, I don’t know how you could beat that, but I’m around for it. I’m up for it. I can’t wait to see what comes out,” Posehn said.
“I’ve been a nerd for so long, and the fact that we live in a world where there is so much Marvel and DC, these two companies that I was always, I’ve liked Spider-Man and Batman since pretty much seven or eight years old, and followed both of those companies forever, and gotten to work with Marvel,” Posehn said. “So it’s amazing that there’s Werewolf by Night shows, characters that you never thought would have their own shows or movies already, and Ms. Marvel, and I’ve liked Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel forever. It’s cool to be alive where there’s that much superhero content.”
With Batman being a top favorite, I had to ask about the DC’s new movie universe, having Grant Morrison’s work hit the big screen, and who his top movie Batman was. “Oh, yeah, I love Grant Morrison’s writing. With those movies, I don’t have anything invested, I’m just happy to have Batman movies. I like the Nolan ones. I like the first Pattinson one. I haven’t watched Penguin yet to set up for the next Batman movie yet, but I’ll watch the Penguin show soon,” Posehn said. “But my favorite all time is still. it’s so hard because Adam West was my first movie, but Michael Keaton’s the man. Even getting to see him in that Flash movie that wasn’t, wasn’t the best. Somewhere between Catwoman and Daredevil. It exists, but yeah, the Michael Keaton scenes I loved. He’s also one of my favorite actors too, but him playing Batman, you can’t beat him.”
Lopez vs. Santa airs tonight at 8:30 PM ET on NBC.
Are you excited for the Lopez vs Santa feud? You can talk all things TV and Christmas with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguiarcb and on Bluesky @knightofoa!
