It has been 40 years since Marvel released its first theatrical movie, and it remains the most bizarre film the company has ever produced. While there was a Captain America serial from 1944, that was when the company was still called Timely Comics. Other than that, Marvel mostly stuck with TV shows until 1986, with The Incredible Hulk as its most popular property on the small screen. However, in 1986, George Lucas finally got a movie made that he had wanted to see on the big screen for years. Thanks to Lucas pushing for its release, Universal released Howard the Duck.
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Based on the comic book character created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik, Howard the Duck remains the strangest movie that Marvel has ever released, although it has become a cult classic.
Howard the Duck Turns 40 Years Old This Year
Howard the Duck hit the theaters on August 1, 1986. This came 13 years after Lucas’s debut feature film American Graffiti was released, and at that time he had talked to filmmaking friends Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz about the comic book character of Howard the Duck, which he thought would make for a great movie. In 1984, Lucas decided to start producing movies, and he wanted to get Howard the Duck made, with the idea to bring in John Landis to direct it. When Landis declined the opportunity, Huyck and Katz stepped up.
While Huyck and Katz thought it should be an animated movie, Lucas believed it could be live-action with special effects coming from Industrial Light & Magic. It was originally supposed to adapt the storyline “Duckworld” from Howard the Duck magazine #6, and since Lucas had to secure a distributor to get it made, he decided to use live-action actors and then use special effects for Howard. However, the biggest mistake came with the script, which removed most of the surreal elements and made it more supernatural rather than the satire that made the comics so great.
This resulted in a movie that was widely mocked when it was released, although it still seemed to find its audience. The movie was a box office failure, making only $37.9 million, with only $16.3 million coming from the United States. It was nominated for seven Razzies, winning Worst Picture, and it was also a finalist for the Worst Picture of the Decade at the Golden Raspberry Awards. The Rotten Tomatoes score is a low 14%, and the audience score is not much better, at only 38%.
Howard the Duck Remains a Cult Classic
Despite the box office and critical failure, Howard the Duck has somehow achieved cult classic status. There are some uncomfortable moments, especially watching Lea Thompson, straight off her successful turn in Back to the Future, have romantic moments with Howard. While this is straight out of the comics, with Thompson playing Beverly Switzler, seeing the actress getting cozy with what looks like a giant puppet was weird, and it was one of the most complained-about moments from the film.
That said, the two original Marvel movies of the 1980s have enjoyed a similar trajectory, with Howard the Duck and Dolph Lundgren’s The Punisher receiving a lot more appreciation from fans today, partially because they were both so weird, and also thanks to nostalgia making them a product of a bygone era. While there were three Hulk made-for-TV movies in the 1980s and 1990s based on the show, Howard the Duck and The Punisher, along with 1990s Captain America and Roger Corman’s unreleased The Fantastic Four in 1994, offer fans a look at what would eventually morph into the biggest franchise in Hollywood over a decade later.
Lea Thompson is among the actors who said the film bombing hurt their careers, but she rebounded by quickly taking a role in Some Kind of Wonderful, so she didn’t take too big a tumble after Howard the Duck. In fact, Thompson holds the entire production in a positive light, and she said shooting the movie was fun. She also has mentioned wanting to direct a Howard the Duck movieafter the Guardians of the Galaxy, but Marvel passed on the idea. That said, Thompson said that she has fans tell her all the time how much they loved the original movie. Ed Gale, who was the actor in the Howard costume, said that fans at conventions would ask him about the role more than when he played Chucky in the Child’s Play movies. It proves that the movie left a lasting impression as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
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