Spoilers Ahead: If you’ve not seen “Guardians of the Galaxy” and you plan to watch it, stop reading now. This post contains spoilers from the latest Marvel Universe movie…as well as one from 1986.
With a certain mallard appearing in the post-credits scene of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy”, we thought it might be interesting to sit down and actually watch the 1986 movie “Howard the Duck“…so you don’t have to.
“Howard the Duck” can basically be described as the most 80’s thing to ever 80’s in the 80’s. But to truly understand this Marvel masterpiece, you have to appreciate the circumstances in which it was born. In the mid-80’s, George Lucas was hard up on cash and saw producing “Howard the Duck” as his chance to re-claim his fortune. Unfortunately, the movie tanked, pushing Lucas further into debt; but luckily, his friend Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, offered to buy Lucas’ newly launched CGI division. Lucas sold to Jobs, and thus Pixar studios was born.
But before you celebrate the arrival of Woody and Dory, remember that to get there, we had to endure the feathered quip machine that was “Howard the Duck”. As the story of an unlikely hero transported from a world where ducks are the dominant species and everything you’ve ever loved has been replaced by a terrible duck-laced pun, “Howard the Duck” was Marvel’s first true attempt to bring one of its characters to the big screen. That’s right; instead of starting with Spider-man, Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man or even a psychotic raccoon and his non-verbose tree friend, Marvel decided to start with a wise-cracking duck named Howard.
Howard wasn’t alone in his adventures. In fact, he was joined by a pre-“Bull Durham” Tim Robbins and a post-“Back to the Future” Lea Thompson. Howard struggles to fit into a world where hairless apes are in control and ducks are merely pond-based entertainment. After comical visits to the Cleveland unemployment office and quitting a job at a hot tub/massage parlor, Howard is thrust back into Lea Thompson’s arms (and bed) after seeing her band, “Cherry Bomb”, perform at the club he originally landed next to. Fun fact: “Cherry Bomb” by The Runaways appears on the soundtrack for “Guardians of the Galaxy”… unlike any of the songs from “Howard the Duck”.
Lea’s Beverly introduces Howard to Tim’s Blumburtt and hilarity ensues. Blumburtt gets Howard mixed up with the scientists whose experiment originally brought him to earth (run by the principal from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, Jeffrey Jones), but their laser eventually brings an evil Overlord of the Universe to earth. The Overlord infects Jeffrey Jones, kidnaps Lea Thompson, and must be stopped by a mixture of Howard’s bravery and snarky remarks. In the end, Howard chooses to destroy his only chance of returning home so he can save Earth…and start managing The Cherry Bombs. Fun fact: All of the vocals for The Cherry Bombs are sung by a young Tori Amos and not, in fact, by Lea Thompson. This is usually referred to as “pulling a McFly”.
All in all, we don’t view “Howard the Duck” as the worst movie ever made based on a Marvel comic (we’re looking at you “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer”), but it’s certainly not the best. Which makes Howard’s appearance at the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy” all that much more exciting. It’s as if the Marvel Universe has finally matured to the point that it can acknowledge the mistakes of the past. Like adults who finally are willing to admit to all the stupid things they did in high school, the return of “Howard the Duck” signifies that Marvel may have learned from its past mistakes and is ready to move forward. Even if that means moving forward without Lea Thompson saying “Oh, Howard!” every 9 seconds.
Want to see the excellence that is “Howard the Duck” for yourself? From “TiVo Central”, select “Find TV, Movies & Videos” and then “Search” for “Howard the Duck”; you can download the movie tonight!
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