Last August, a group of fellow journalists and I got to visit the London set of Spider-Man: Far From Home. The upcoming sequel has Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his classmates going on a European vacation, but Peter’s fun is interrupted when Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) recruits him to stop rampaging elemental monsters.

During a break in filming, we got to talk to Jon Favreau, who returns to play Happy Hogan in the movie. During our conversation, we talked about how he splits his time between acting in a blockbuster, doing post-production on The Lion King, and overseeing The Mandalorian, what his character is up to in Far From Home, if he’d ever consider directing another Marvel project, and much more.

Check out the interview below, which has been lightly edited for clarity. Spider-Man: Far From Home opens July 2nd.

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So how do you manage your time between this, between Lion King, and between Star Wars?

JON FAVREAU: I'm working on Lion King now, actually, while I'm out, I go over to MPC after work and look at the stuff there, because they're doing the visual effects here, so we're doing some of the stuff, and then we're prepping the Star Wars series back in LA, so actually, with all the time zones, it actually works out well. Although, when you have to be on the set, it's tricky, so I have one the producers who's working on both the other projects with me, so I kind of get corralled around, but the nice part about acting is that I get to just focus on that for when I'm on the set. This is really a fun one, too, and I like working with Jon again. Funny guy.

I do want to say I saw Lion King footage at D23. It looks incredible.

FAVREAU: Did you?

Yeah, it looks amazing.

FAVREAU: Thank you. We're really giving them the time to do it right. That was relatively early footage, rushed for that event, because we wanted to get it out.

But I'm here working with them. It's a lot of the same people we worked with on Jungle Book, so we're ... There was probably a big learning curve for me on that one, and now I'm up to speed, and I'm used to working with all of them, and I know what the tech can do, and it's all new tech. A lot of the consumer facing VR stuff that's out there that wasn't out there back around the time of Jungle Book, we're using mostly motion capture tech, and now using game engine tech and consumer facing VR stuff we're able to create virtual production. It's a very cool, efficient way of working. It helps contribute to a live action feel, because we're able actually to go into VR and set cameras and operate real cameras that drive virtual cameras, so it has a look that hopefully will feel photo real, even though everything's animated and it still should have a look of a live action film. You'll see. You'll be the judge. That's the plan.

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Image via Sony Pictures

Jon, what is Happy's role in this? I mean, in Homecoming, he was very much a go between Tony and the Avengers and where Peter was.

FAVREAU: I like to think I was the Nick Fury of ...

Sure, we'll go with that.

FAVREAU:... and a lot more of the Hagrid. But I'm having a lot of fun, because I know a lot of the actors. I really liked how Homecoming came out. I love the tone, I love the mix of humor, and it reminded me a lot of, especially working with Gwyneth and Robert, also, it reminded me a lot of the first Iron Man, because there was no pressure on us. We got to have fun and be funny, and start to open up new doors, and that storyline was new, so it was simple, and then Tom Holland is, of course, this really cool younger, sort of looks up to Tony as a mentor figure, so that passing of the torch that took place in that one was really good, and I love the sense of humor. To me, when you get that balance right is where I really appreciate the kind of indie, funny, improv-y type feel, and then you have really kind of cool action that balances out well if you have somebody who's got a good handle on things like Jon does.

What kind of technology is your character looking at in this movie, like within the universe? Because we're interested in vibranium, we know there's the stealth suit, kind of stuff like that. What can you say about how that kind of stuff in evolving?

FAVREAU: I try to know as much as my character does, so I try not to know too much. But I know enough to ... Happy isn't somebody who's innovating technology, but he's one who's been around it for a long time, and so some of the stuff is still Stark stuff, and there's new stuff, and there's always ... and Spider-Man's sort of a tech hero, I think is what's been established in the MCU, is that we're really leaning into that he's a little genius, too, and then Tony has the resources of all of Stark from when he created the suit for him, so it's a fun balance. But honestly, as I go through it, I get pages the morning of, so I'm like, okay. What's going on here? I can kind of piece it together, and then I look in the makeup trailer of all the headshots and the names of all the characters, and I can put together what I think the movie is about. I can guess with you. I don't know anything.

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Image via Marvel

Have they done anything to kind of touch on how Tony and Happy's relationship has changed if Tony's not in this movie?

FAVREAU: I'm on loan out a lot, like Gwyneth, I was on loan out, so I'm part of the Stark family of companies, and a lot of time has passed since the last one, so a lot's implied.

How has Happy's relationship with Peter changed?

FAVREAU: Well, they were through a lot together, and I think that his relationship with Tony, Peter's with Tony, and Happy's always been very loyal to Tony, going back to the books, too, and it's something that is ... Remember, I started playing this because I just wanted to give myself a cameo as basically an extra in the first one. What's really super strange for me is how all of this has evolved into something so ... How should I put it? Every little thread plays out into other things, so my neighbor was Clark Gregg. I asked him to play a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Paul Bettany, I actually worked with on Wimbledon, we shot at Shepperton, and I asked him to do the voice. He never even saw the first movie, and then he turned into the Vision, and Clark Gregg turned into Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. It's a little surreal for me, to be honest with you, how all these little things that were just ... Nick Fury doing the post-credit scene as a little Easter egg for the fans turned into the foundation for the whole Avengers MCU thing. So nothing's wasted. Every little detail the fans really know, so anytime they bring someone into it, they're trying to re-enforce that seems to help bring a little more humanity and depth to it.

So, Happy's not a traditional chaperone. What is he doing in this one?

FAVREAU: No. Now, I kind of am, because it's with the kid, so I am. I wasn't kidding. I was just joking. I was like I'm kind of Hagrid here. They're like, yeah, you're kind of in the [inaudible] movie from Harry Potter. [crosstalk] they serve us. We get butterbeer for lunch.

Does he protect Peter, or is he going to protect everyone?

FAVREAU: No, he's sort of, by extension, all these kids are in my charge, because just by association with Peter, they're thrown into a world that's a lot more dangerous than any high school experience these kids should be going through. And it's cool for me, because the school's kind of based on the high school I went to, Bronx Science, so I'm throwing out peaky lines to them, acting too cool for my character. I'm like, that's actually not a spear. It's a halberd, like knowing what every weapon in there is. I remember from my Dungeons & Dragons days. So it's kind of fun. I'm from Queens, also, so in Captain America when they showed Queens, when they cut to Queens, and there was the big title card, my heart jumped, because when you're from Queens, you don't really get that top billing like that. It's a punch line.

Would you ever jump back in the sandbox and direct one?

FAVREAU: I mean, nowadays, who knows with all the different platforms and the streaming service. I'm sort of getting a part of the new Disney streaming service, and all of these new technologies are new platforms are emerging, and all sorts of really cool ... because it's not like network television or not like blockbuster films where everybody has to be ... everything has to be made for all audiences. Now you can make specific material and content for specific groups as long as you're doing a good job, and they're loyal to it, and they like what you're doing, there's room in this new ecosystem, and so it's going to be very interesting to see what now just Lucasfilm does, but Marvel does, and Disney, but the opportunity to do things that don't have to compete on a blockbuster weekend in the summer and the holidays, so I'm seeing a lot of ... It takes a while for this to ripple through to the audiences, but you're starting to see out there with all the different ways of delivering content, you're seeing a lot of material coming out, and it allows for fresh voices and fresh takes, and certainly something like Marvel has a lot of opportunities, because there's so many characters that might not warrant a huge movie, but that weave together, and you get a lot of chapters, so it's kind of exciting to see what's going to happen.