Jon Favreau Had One Demand Before He Joined Marvel's What If...?
Even with its shortcomings, Marvel's "What If...?" season 1 is the closest the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come to realizing the true potential of the multiverse in terms of storytelling. The hope, then, is that the animated series will dispense with the training wheels entirely with its next batch of episodes and really have fun with the concept, rather than restricting itself to re-imagining events from MCU movies and TV shows past. And so far, it appears season 2 will do just that, with an episode inspired by the Neil Gaiman-penned Elizabethan era comic arc "1602" and another one centered on a brand-new character in the form of the Mohawk hero Kahhori.
Of course, there's still plenty of room for new stories featuring old favorites, including treasured supporting players and frequent comic relief sidekicks Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau). Those two specifically will team up in "What If... Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?" — a season 2 episode in which "Iron Man's errand boy" (the synopsis' wording, not mine!) is the only thing standing between Tony Stark's old nemesis Justin Hammer and his siege on Avengers Tower during the heroes' annual holiday party.
Speaking at a press conference attended by /Film's Jenna Busch-Henderson, "What If...?" creator A.C. Bradley explained:
"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 [...] and so when he came in to do season 1, he kind of jokingly made a deal. He's like, 'I'll do season 1, but season 2, I get to headline. And I want to be The Freak.'"
'An ode to Mr. Favreau'
Even by typical comic book standards, Favreau's request was a deep cut. The Freak was the moniker granted to Happy after he was blasted by the Enervator — an advanced medical device designed by Tony Stark — in an attempt to heal his would-be terminal injuries in the Stan Lee-written 1965 Marvel comic issue "Tales of Suspense Vol. 1 #74." Instead, it transformed him into a Hulk-like raging creature who proceeded to go on a rampage until Tony managed to turn him back two issues later using the Enervator again. That's science for you, amirite folks?
Bradley admitted she and "What If...?" writer/producer Matthew Chauncey (who was also at the press event) had never heard of The Freak before that. "We're like, 'Oh no, what are we [agreeing] to?' And then as we were talking about the episode, we're like, 'Let's make it an ode to Mr. Favreau.'" She continued:
"And we started looking at his amazing movies. And we even had a little mention of 'The Chef Show' in there [...] and we were looking at 'Elf,' and were like, 'No, we can't do 'Elf.' Let's do 'Die Hard.” Which is my favorite movie from childhood. Absolutely. I memorized it, I think, by the time I hit 10 years old."
The trailer for season 2 even teases the Happy-led episode paying direct homage to "Die Hard" by having Happy climb around in the ventilation shafts of Stark Tower like he's John McClane (whom he — probably unnecessarily — also name-drops, just to make doubly certain no one misses the joke). As for his transformation into The Freak, well, you'll just have to check out the actual episode and see if it sticks the landing.
"What If...?" season 2 premieres December 22, 2023, on Disney+.