While Happy Hogan has played a kind of uncomfortable father figure in the Tom Holland-starring Spider-Man films, there was a time when he wouldn't have even appeared. That's because the original plan for Jon Favreau's character was to die in Iron Man 3, until the actor/director came up with a better idea.

While Favreau has mostly just made appearances in the latest Spider-Man movies as well as other installments in the MCU, there was a time when he was more directly involved in how they turned out. In addition to playing Happy Hogan, Tony Stark's personal security and sidekick, Favreau also directed Iron Man and Iron Man 2. However, in Iron Man 3, his character's storyline was supposed to be wrapped up after an explosion put him in the hospital and in a coma. The original plan was for Happy to succumb to his injuries, but then Favreau sent a note to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that was apparently quite simple in nature. He asked the producer to let Happy live.

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ComicBook.com reported that during a live TikTok stream at the Spider-Man: No Way Home premiere, both Favreau and Feige talked about how plans changed when it came to Happy Hogan during shooting for Iron Man 3. After Feige talked about the note that Favreau sent, the actor confirmed that the exec was "not lying." He went on to say that the people in charge accommodated his note and he is quite happy that they decided not to kill off his character.

Favreau has appeared in several other films in the MCU now that his character was allowed to live, even if he hasn't returned to the director's chair. His biggest role post-Iron Man 3 has been as the man who watches over Peter Parker and eventually passes on the legacy of Tony Stark after Avengers: Endgame. He's even spent some time in the Spider-Man trilogy dating Parker's aunt May.

Now that No Way Home is over, it's not clear just what will happen in Spider-Man 4 and whether Happy will continue as part of that franchise. Like everyone else in Peter Parker's orbit, Happy no longer remembers that they were once close, so it seems hard to imagine he'll play much of a role at all in the next installment, assuming one does come to fruition.

Considering the massive popularity of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it seems extremely likely that Marvel Studios will work hard to get Holland into at least one more film. Fans will have to wait and see if Happy Hogan comes along with him.

Spider-Man: No Way Home is now playing in theaters and Iron Man is available on Disney Plus.

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Source: ComicBook.com