Hangover Almost Replaced Zach Galifianakis With a Fan-Favorite Spider-Man Actor Before Changing Their Minds

When it comes to comedy movies, The Hangover trilogy always holds a special place in the audience’s hearts. The first Hangover movie was so successful that it went on to spawn two more subsequent films. Todd Phillips, a versatile director who can go from comedies like Due Date or Road Trip to Joker or A Star is Born, is the mastermind behind all three movies. 

It is almost impossible to think of The Hangover series without Zach Galifianakis’s iconic role as Alan. With his on-screen charm and perfect deadpan comedic timing, he left the audience clenching their stomachs in laughter. So, one can imagine the surprise when, in a recent interview, it came out that Todd Phillips almost replaced him with a fan-favorite actor from the MCU’s Spider-Man franchise.

Who almost replaced Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover series?

In May 2013, when the third installment of The Hangover III was slated to come out, director Todd Phillips, along with the cast of the movie, gave an interview to The Hollywood Reporter, where he revealed that Zach Galifianakis almost did not have the role.

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In that candid interview, he said that while writing The Hangover, he did not have Zach Galifianakis in mind. In fact, Jonah Hill and Jake Gyllenhaal were the two popular choices at the time. However, the strongest candidate for the role was none other than Spider-Man 3 villain Sandman Thomas Haden Church. In the interview, Phillips Todd says:

“When we were writing, we did have [other actors] in mind. Quite honestly, we were writing the brother-in-law as a younger brother they had to take along with them — like a Jonah Hill character instead of Zach [Jake Gyllenhaal also was considered]. “

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He continued:

“Then we thought it’d be so much more awkward if it was an older brother who’s still at home. [Thomas Haden Church was strongly considered.] I’ve always been a huge fan of Zach [as a comedian and actor], but Zach didn’t want to come out and meet with me.”

Zach Galifianakis immediately retorted jokingly by asserting his fear of not performing well in auditions:

“That’s not true! I was in Canada, and I flew down for an audition, and I was like, ‘This is going to be a waste of money because I’m not good at auditions.'”

However, apparently, Warner Bros. wanted to see him audition, and the rest is history on Hollywood’s map. 

How did The Hangover do at the box office?

All three of The Hangover films’ budgets amounted to a collective $218 million, and it surpassed the $1 billion mark worldwide. It is a record-breaking success for any comedy franchise, especially one that is made on such a low budget.

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Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle actually went on to say that the first film was “the funniest movie so far this year [2009].” Galifianakis managed to win over A. O. Scott of The New York Times, who found his performance, along with Cooper and Helmes, outstanding. The first Hangover movie was also arguably the most popular hit with critics, though the audience loved all three movies. 

The Hangover movies can be streamed on Netflix.