Happy Hogan

Harold "Happy" Hogan is Tony Stark's personal driver, bodyguard and friend who is now the head of security of Stark Industries. He first appeared in Iron Man film, and later its two sequels Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 and will be in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He is played by director Jon Favreau.

Harold Hogan was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.

Iron Man
Harold Hogan, commonly called "Happy", is Tony Stark's personal chauffeur and bodyguard, and one of his closest friends. He often encourages Tony's excesses, as seen when he challenges his boss in a race from Stark's mansion to the airport, where James Rhodes is waiting for their arrival to take Stark in Afghanistan for the promotion of the new Stark Industries' weapons. He stays with his boss during all of his adventures, but he only acknowledges his secret identity of Iron Man during Stark's communicate to press after the incident with the Iron Monger.

Iron Man 2: Public Identity
After Tony used his suit to have some fun in a yacht, he told Happy that he missed the fun.

Iron Man 2
Happy Hogan is still at Tony Stark's employment and has added to his routine duties even the assistance to his superhero identity. He's initially seen sparring with Tony inside his mansion, in a boxing ring built in one of the many rooms. During their training, Pepper introduces one of the candidates for the role of Stark's personal assistant, Natasha Rushman. Impressed by the girl's curriculum, Tony asks Natasha to spar with Happy, but the bodyguard is quite humiliated when she annihilates him with a single, quick acrobatic move.

Happy accompanies Tony to Montecarlo, where the playboy enjoys himself in racing in the Gran Prix. During the race, Whiplash attacks him, and Happy, along with Pepper, intervenes, bringing the new armor to Tony. Happy too is attacked by the villain, but, once dressed up with the armor, Iron Man saves him.

When Whiplash' connection with Justin Hammer is revealed and Hammer Drones go on rampage during the Stark Expo, Happy follows Natasha Rushman, aka the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Black Widow, to Hammer's base in which Whiplash is hiding, controlling the drones. Happy engages a fight with one of Hammer's guards, managing to defeat him after a long battle, only to realize that Black Widow has defeated all the others by herself in no time. Along with her, anyway, Happy manages to interfere with Whiplash' plans, even if he already fled away, and assists Iron Man and War Machine in their battle against the Russian villain.

Iron Man 3
Happy was promoted to Head of Security at Stark Industries. When Aldrich Killian came to visit Pepper, Happy suspected Eric Savin and decided to follow him to the Chinese Theatre where Savin met Jack Taggart to deliver a batch of Extremis. Happy later bumped into Taggart causing him to drop his case. Savin stopped Happy but Taggart exploded from the Extremis, causing Happy several injuries and hospitalizing him.

Tony later visited Happy in hospital and told the nurse not to turn the TV off because Downton Abbey was Happy's favorite show. After seeing what had happened to Happy, Tony decided to get revenge on The Mandarin.

Happy later woke up from the coma.

Character traits
Happy is a good pugilist, trained in boxing and self-defense techniques (even if he's absolutely no match for high-trained agents like Natasha Romanoff), and a skilled driver and pilot.

He's a loyal friend and a good partner, always ready to take any risk to protect Tony Stark and Virginia Potts. He is quite arrogant and becomes humiliated at times when he is beaten by opponents with greater skill than himself (Natasha Romanoff in combat or Tony Stark in car driving).

Happy is the trusted bodyguard and chauffeur in charge of protecting Pepper Potts. More of a friend than an employee, Happy always has Tony’s back too, even when the eccentric billionaire doesn't think he needs him. Steadfast and loyal, Happy would do anything to keep Pepper and Tony safe.

Happy is a fan of British drama series.

Behind the scenes

 * Jon Favreau played this role as a cameo whilst also being the director of the film.
 * Jon Favreau has previously portrayed Foggy Nelson, another Marvel Comics supporting character, in the film Daredevil.

Trivia

 * In the comics, Happy was married to Pepper, but they divorced.
 * In an Iron Man deleted scene, Happy, talking with James Rhodes, notes his concern about Pepper's emotions during Tony Stark's disappearance.
 * Happy was a boxer in the comics who earned his nickname for his refusal to fight back.
 * Happy Hogan sports a rather fetching mullet in 1999. This is a nod to the hairstyle Stark favoured during the 80's and particularly the 90's in the comics. This appearance is also very similar to John Travolta's look in the movie Pulp Fiction.
 * Happy's favorite TV series is Downton Abbey.
 * Happy seems to be fond of badges.