Along with Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury, Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan holds the unique distinction of playing one of just two regularly recurring characters to have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s very first movie that remain part of the franchise to this day.
Technically, you could include Paul Bettany on that list if you wanted to, even if he made a handful of voice cameos as JARVIS first before being brought to the screen as Vision. Outside of Peter Parker, MJ, Ned and Aunt May, Favreau’s Happy has firmly established himself as one of the Spider-Man saga’s most important players, which makes sense when you consider the shared connection he and the friendly neighborhood superhero have with Tony Stark.
However, during an interview that was livestreamed on TikTok, Marvel Studios boss admitted the original plan was to have Happy killed off after he was attacked in Iron Man 3, but Favreau managed to literally dodge that bullet.
“I’ve said this many times, the MCU would not be what it is without Mr. Favreau at all. Obviously Iron Man, obviously everything there, but staying the heart and soul of Happy Hogan is what’s really amazing. There was a little difference in the script than the final movie, which was that Happy died. Jon had a note — that is one of the most important notes he gave us at Marvel — which was, ‘What if Happy was severely injured but did not die?’.”
Favreau doesn’t act all that often anymore, which is understandable when he’s got his hands full marshaling the Star Wars expansion on Disney Plus, so it’s always fun to see him pop up as Tony’s former right-hand man, and fans will be hoping he sticks around for the next Spider-Man trilogy.
