- “You're not Iron Man. You're never gonna be Iron Man. No one can live up to Tony, not even Tony. Tony was my best friend. And he was a mess. He second-guessed everything he did; he was all over the place. The one thing that he did that he didn't second-guess was picking you. I don't think Tony would have done what he did... if he didn't know that you were gonna be here after he was gone.”
- ―Happy Hogan to Peter Parker[src]
Harold "Happy" Hogan is a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, first appearing in the Iron Man film. He is Tony Stark's chauffeur, bodyguard, and friend, who is now the head of security of Stark Industries.
Harold Hogan was created by Stan Lee and Don Heck.
Background
Personality
Contrary to what his nickname suggests, Happy is actually cynical and dry. He takes his job and skills seriously, and almost with great pride, 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). With his cohorts, however, he shows a more positive side - that of a loyal friend and a good partner, always ready to take any risk to protect Tony Stark and 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. Although rude at times, he is willing to apologize when he is proven to be in the wrong.
Appearances
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 communication to press after the incident with the Iron Monger.
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 a 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 is promoted to Head of Security at Stark Industries. When Aldrich Killian comes to visit Pepper, Happy suspects Eric Savin and decides to follow him to the Chinese Theatre where Savin meets Jack Taggart to deliver a batch of Extremis. Happy later bumps into Taggart, causing him to drop his case. Savin stops Happy but Taggart explodes from the Extremis, giving Happy several injuries and hospitalizing him.
Tony visits 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 decides to get revenge on The Mandarin. Happy later wakes up from the coma.
Spider-Man: Homecoming
Happy appears in a recording depicting him "chaperoning" Peter Parker on his trip to Germany and giving him his Spider-suit during Captain America: Civil War. After returning to New York, Happy continues to be Peter's contact, albeit unenthusiastically, in which he received updates on Peter's crime-fighting and sent this information to Tony.
Happy is later promoted to the asset manager and is assigned in allocating all the items from Avengers Tower to New Avengers Facility. He oversees the items loaded into the cargo plane on moving day when he suddenly receives a message from Ned Leeds, who tries to warn him that the plane is in danger, but Happy ignores the warning. During the takeoff, the plane gets hijacked by the Vulture. However, Spider-Man intervenes and the plane crashes into Coney Island beach following their battle. Arriving at the crash site with the FBI, Happy finds Adrian Toomes restrained on the side of a car with a note from Spider-Man. Realizing that Peter was right about the Vulture, Happy appears at his school later to personally apologize for ignoring him. He then brings Peter to New Avengers Facility where Tony Stark invites Peter to the Avengers. However, Peter declines and leaves to wait in the car, expecting Happy to drive him home. It turns out that Tony intended to announce Spider-Man to the world at a press conference behind the room. As Pepper Potts tries to cover for the reporters, Tony haphazardly asks Happy for the engagement ring he carries to announce a proposal to Pepper for a last-minute scenario.
Avengers: Infinity War
Although Happy does not appear in the movie, he is seen in a deleted scene where he confronts both Tony and Pepper in Central Park, about being stressed out after having to keep their wedding out of the tabloids.
Avengers: Endgame
Happy attends Tony's funeral and comforts his daughter Morgan. Happy asks Morgan what she wants to eat and after she says cheeseburgers, Happy tells her that Tony loved cheeseburgers. Happy says Morgan she can have all the cheeseburgers she wants.
Spider-Man: Far From Home
In Far from Home, Happy gives Peter much needed support in the aftermath of Tony's sacrifice telling him that even Tony could never live up to what people excepted of him. Happy acts as a father-figure to Peter during the movie and looks out for him, replacing Tony Stark in that role. Happy helps Peter build a new suit to fight Mysterio and rescues his friends. Happy also has a flirtatious, unofficial relationship with Peter's Aunt May. While in London, Mysterio attacks and Happy rescues, Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, Betty Brant and Flash Thompson. They all hide in the vault in the Tower of London, where they confess secrets when they all think they are goi8ng to die. Believing these are his last moments, Happy reveals he is in love with Spider-Man's aunt, much to the confusion of the superheroes classmates. After Mysterio's death, everyone is freed and Happy tells Talos (disguised as Nick Fury) that Peter will call "Fury" when he can as the teenager is currently with his new girlfriend, Michelle.
What If...?
Season One
Happy appears in Episode 5 "What If... Zombies!?", voiced by Jon Favreau, and helps Peter Parker film a video. Happy is later infected by the zombie outbreak and is turned into zombie, which saddens Peter as he has already lost his parents, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Tony, and now Happy.
He reappears in Episode 6 "What If... Killmonger Rescued Tony Stark?", where he works with Pepper to find out who is responsible for Iron Man's death.
Season Two
Another Hogan reappears in Episode 3 of Season 2: "What if... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?". When Justin Hammer hijacked the Avengers Tower, it's up to him to stop him. At the lab, he accidentally injected himself with the Hulk's blood sample and as he reaches to the top, he slowly transformed into the Freak.
Another variant of Hogan appears in "What if... The Avengers Assembled in 1602?", where he and the Avengers are trapped in the year 1602. This version is also known as "The Freak", implying the Hogan that appears is the same one from the Christmas episode.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
- “Welcome to the spiritual oasis.”
- ―Happy to Aunt May and Peter Parker
A week following the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Happy is first seen speaking to May about their fling and is seen not taking their break up very well. Happy hears Peter and MJ and walks into the young Avenger's room, only to find Peter half dressed, believing that the teenagers are about to have sex. When Damage Control are after Peter, Happy and May contact Matt Murdock to support the young avenger with his legal issues, which Matt is able to drop the charges. However, he does tell Happy that he will probably need a lawyer himself due to his work with Tony Stark and his loyalty to the late hero, due to the attacks a week prior used drones from Stark Industries. Happy starts to panic about this so May tries to calm him down, but Matt still mentions that Happy will need a really good lawyer. Seconds later, Peter and May realise they are no longer safe in their apartment and Happy allows them to move in with him into his condo.
The next day, Happy helps the Parkers move their belongings into his apartment where they reside for the next few months. In November, Peter asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell that will make everyone forget that he is Spider-Man, including Happy, but botches the spell, which makes everyone within the multiverse - who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man - find themselves in this world.
When Peter promises to help the displaced villains - Norman Osborrn, Flint Marko, Otto Octavius, Max Dillion, and Curt Connors - and brings them to Happy's condo to help cure them. Happy calls Peter to tell him whom there guys are and why they are in his apartment. Soon after, Happy's building is destroyed during a brutal fight between Spider-Man and Green Goblin, whom has overtaken Osborn's mind. Happy returns to his apartment building to find Peter crying over the corpse of his deceased aunt and tells Peter to run as the police are shooting at him and Happy is arrested.
Weeks later, in December, (after Peter asks Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make the world forget who Peter Parker is) Happy decides to visit May's grave and finds a young man already laying fresh flowers. Not knowing this is Peter, Happy asks the young man how he knew May and he tells him he knew her through Spider-Man, as Parker doesn't want Happy to know he is related to May. Happy agrees that he also knew her through the hero and mentions that he recently lost a good friend and is still mourning the loss of Tony over a year after his death. Happy and Peter tell each other to take care of themselves as the stranger leaves the graveyard and happy continues to mourn May.
Trivia
- In the comics, Happy was married to Pepper, but they divorced.
- Jon Favreau played this role as a cameo whilst also being the director of the film.
- 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 favored 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.
- Happy appears in a deleted scene from Avengers: Infinity War, driving a buggy and confronting both Tony and Pepper about having to keep their wedding news out of the tabloids.[1]
- Happy acts as father-figure to Peter in Spider-Man: Far From Home, replacing Tony in that role after his death in Endgame.
- The only Avengers movie that Happy appeared in was in Avengers: Endgame (not counting the deleted scene in Avengers: Infinity War).
- Spider-Man: Homecoming was the first time Happy appeared outside of an Iron Man movie.
- Happy was the only main character in Spider-Man: Far From Home to have survived the blip.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Hogan is revealed to have sleep apnea and uses a CPAP machine to treat this.
- Happy Hogan was originally supposed to die in the Destruction of the Chinese caused by Jack Taggart, in Iron Man 3, but the idea was scrapped.[2]
Gallery
Relationships
External links
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