Jon Favreau’s demand turned into a reality and it easily became one of the best Marvel episodes to date.

Jon Favreau’s Happy Hogan has always been a side character that appears in the movies sparingly, but what if he leads an entire episode of a show? This became the discussion when the director jokingly said he wanted Happy to be the main character this time.

Tony Stark’s famous bodyguard appeared in the first season of What If…?, a project Favreau gladly accepted. He, however, made a demand to return in the sequel as long as he gets to headline one episode.

Jon Favreau Joked About Playing The Freak – And He Did!

Speaking at a press event via SlashFilm, series creator A.C. Bradley revealed they wanted to dedicate an episode to the resident comic reliefs of the Marvel films, Darcy Lewis and Happy Hogan. Both of them showed up in Season 2 Episode 3: What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?.

The second season, we knew we wanted to do a Darcy episode and sort of had that in our back pocket. And then Jon Favreau, I’m allowed to tell this story. First of all, he’s amazing. He’s one of the absolute nicest human beings and most talented human beings.

When Jon Favreau joined in Season 1, Bradley said “he kind of jokingly made a deal.” The harmless jest ran like “I’ll do season 1, but season 2, I get to headline. And I want to be The Freak.” And so, his wish was granted.

Interestingly, Bradley and her colleague, writer/producer Matthew Chauncey, admitted never hearing about The Freak. They were fretting as to what they agreed to, but in the end, they decided, “Let’s make it an ode to Mr. Favreau.”

They started looking into and studying his movies and there were mentions of The Chef Show and Elf until they settled for Die Hard. Season 2’s trailer saw Happy channeling his inner John McClane as he climbed around in the ventilation shafts of Stark Tower.

The Freak was another name for Happy after he was blasted by Stark’s Enervator, a machine he was toying with in an attempt to cure his fatal wounds. In consequence, he turned into a raging Hulk that went on a rampage mode.

A Rare Chance For Non-Superheroes To Shine

Series writer Matt Chauncey said via Murphy’s Multiverse that Happy Hogan’s episode in What If…? was an opportunity to steer the spotlight towards fan-favorite minor characters.

[We’re] creating this sweet, meta-narrative where these characters who usually play the sidekick role in the movies finally get to step into the limelight and be the heroes of the story.

Creator A.C. Bradley confessed to having a great time working on the script as they were excited to have Favreau back for the second installment. “Knowing that Happy Hogan was going to lead the charge on this one, Matt and I had a blast adding in all these Favreau touches,” she added.

What started as a simple joke became one of the most entertaining episodes in the series. It’s also a breath of fresh air to see a non-superhero character lead a Marvel show.

What If…? is available to watch on Disney+.