What can Jack Black's character do?

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Paramount+ Dear Santa Claus film and mentions of the death of children.Jack Black Dear Santa Claus the character can grant wishes, and while the film's logic around this specific plot point is quite simple, there are some small questions about what the leader of the Dear Santa Claus the cast can and cannot do. The family Christmas movie is a fairly light-hearted adventure for the most part, with enough compelling lore to keep audiences engaged as well as invested in its characters. Dear Santa ClausThe ending is unexpected, given one of the established wish rules, but it's at least moving too.

The film revolves around the premise of Robert Timothy Smith's Liam Turner writing a letter to Santa Claus, but things go south when Liam's dyslexia causes him to direct his desires at Satan. This brings Jack Black into the film, as he goes undercover as the letter's intended recipient, but later turns out to be a demon named Asmodeus. Interestingly, Asmodeus allows Jack Black to play a figure from real-world religious texts, which adds an extra layer to the story. Dear Santa Claus. That said, all desire comes from somewhere else.

Dear Santa's devils can grant three wishes like traditional genies

Asmodeus' Aladdin reference cements the comparison

Asmodeus tells Liam that he can grant three wishes, and those wishes can grant almost anything. The rules of a demon's magic in this regard are essentially identical to those of jinn in traditional folklore. Black's character even indirectly accuses the jinn of stealing the structure of the demons' three desires.which implies that jinn also exist in the world of Dear Santa Claus. This is never confirmed, but it would make sense if it were true.

Black's character also informs Liam of at least one limitation when it comes to the wishes he can fulfill. Briefly, Asmodeus cannot change history. That being said, he still resurrects Liam's little brother near the end of the film, which means Dear Santa Claus has a gap in its lore, or Asmodeus was simply forbidden from altering history rather than being unable to do so. Either way, the moment still misses the point of the film's broader message, of the characters growing around their pain.

Jack Black's beloved character tries to trick Liam into making selfish wishes

There is also a big problem with making all 3 wishes in Dear Santa

Although he is pretending to be Santa Claus, who is never revealed to be real or fake in the film, Asmodeus' motivations are not especially wholesome. He wants to grant Liam three wishes, but he wants them all to be self-centered. Of course, like a demon, it makes perfect sense that Asmodeus would encourage Liam to act so selfishly. He even makes Liam follow this path with his first wish, but the demon is unable to completely guide him in that direction.

Asmodeus tries to rush Liam into his desires, as there is a potential payoff at the end for Black's conniving character. Not only will he become a full demon and get his real horns, but he will also be able to take Liam's soul back to the real Satan (Ben Stiller) as a prize. Since only one of Liam's desires was selfish, his soul could not be extracted. Although Asmodeus labels Liam as “incorruptible“in a frustrated speech to SatanBlack's character develops a fondness for the young human, despite the demon being cast out of hell for his failure.

How Liam makes his 3 wishes come true on Dear Santa

Liam technically makes 4 wishes

Liam hesitantly begins with his desires, not knowing what is possible. Eventually, he wishes his high school crush would give him a chance at romance. As a result, Kai Marie Cech's Emma becomes more open to the idea of ​​dating Liam, and the two go to a concert together, which also opens the door for Post Malone. Dear Santa Claus cameo. The night seems to be going well, but Liam's ultimate goal of making Emma his girlfriend never happens due to events later in the film. However, the concert helps influence Liam's second wish.

After a bad experience caused by the appearance of his teeth, Jaden Carson Baker's Gibby is more self-conscious than ever. Then, Liam uses his second wish to fix Gibby's teeth. Strangely, Gibby seems to have no idea how this happened, but later suggests that he had an idea that it could have been due to Liam and Asmodeus's collaboration. Liam tries to resist making his third wish, telling Black's character that he's done and wants to keep his soul instead of giving it to the devil. Unfortunately, Liam's desire for his parents to be together is too great.

All Liam's Wishes on Dear Santa

• “I kind of wish [Emma would] give me a chance.” – This desire is accidental.

• Liam wishes for Gibby's teeth to be fixed, but this wish is made off-screen.

• Satan declares that Liam's desire for his parents to be together is “null and void.”

• Asmodeus fulfills Liam's request to bring Spencer back, as he requested in his letter addressed to Santa Claus.

Liam's parents are having problems triggered by the death of their son, Spencer, before the events of the film – a character eventually played by Leo Easton Kelly. Convinced that their pain would cause them to part, Liam burns his last wish to try to avoid his parents' divorcebut with mom and dad already deciding they needed each other, the desire became “null and void“, because it had already happened.

Asmodeus only discovers that Liam's wish on his parents has failed when the demon returns to Hell for an interrogation with Satan. After having an hour to wrap up their business and leave Hell, Asmodeus makes the executive decision to bring Spencer back from the deadfor that was what was in Liam's original letter when he thought he was writing to Santa. As already mentioned, this doesn't really line up with the rule that wishes don't change history, but it happens anyway.

Asmodeus uses his powers several times outside the context of a wish from dear Santa Claus

Jack Black's character pokes Liam's first wish along with additional magic

Wishes about Gibby's teeth and Spencer's resurrection cause immediate changes, but Liam's first wish isn't just a matter of Asmodeus snapping his fingers and making Emma fall in love with Liam. Then again, Liam's accidental wish line stated that he wanted her “give [him] a chance.” The wish has the desired effect, but Asmodeus continues to use his magic to advance the encounter and make it more likely that Emma will become more to Liam than just a romantic prospect. However, Asmodeus never directly makes Emma fall in love with Liam .

Asmodeus's powers also seem to have an interesting effect on the memories of those impacted by the wishes, but this is not represented consistently throughout the film. For example, Post Malone doesn't remember the entire show airedas he was under Asmodeus's influence the entire time. Likewise, Liam's parents don't remember Spencer dying after he came back to life, but Liam remembers everything. At the same time, Emma remembers all her wish-related scenes in Dear Santa Clausjust like Gibby.