If you ask the average person who’s watched the Marvel movies in order, but isn’t familiar with the comics, chances are they don’t know who Howard the Duck is. That’s fair considering he only made minor appearances in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and a blink-and-you-miss it cameo in Avengers: Endgame. However, the animated TV show What If… ? did showcase alternate versions of Howard in several episodes. But could the wisecracking, anthropomorphic bird brain get a solo project in the MCU?
Seth Green, who’s been voicing Howard the Duck since 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, gave his thoughts on this while speaking to Comicbook. In his opinion, Howard is better administered in small doses and doesn’t need to be the focus of his own story. As he explained:
Howard fit nicely in the Guardians universe. That was the perfect opportunity to check in on him. And then we’ve done a handful of What If…? [episodes] too … we’ve gotten to do some cool stuff on that. Howard’s a funny character, right? There’s some characters that are stars without needing to headline their own project. He’s a funny one, like, where can it work for mass audiences has still kind of yet to be seen.
I would push back against that a little considering all the Marvel Comics titles Howard the Duck has led since he was introduced in 1973’s Adventure into Fear #19, created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. But then I remember 1986’s Howard the Duck, which is frequently considered to be one of the worst movies ever made (though some good came out of it for star Lea Thompson). Nearly 40 years after its release, I wouldn’t blame Marvel Studios to be hesitant for wanting to place Howard front and center, even if Seth Green’s version of the character is more faithful to the source material.
Seth Green seems to be ok with that, though that’s not to say he doesn’t want to voice Howard anymore. Rather, he’s content with the character continuing to hang out on the sidelines. Green enjoyed how Howard was used in the Guardians movies and those What If… ? episodes, but he’s not sure what can be done to effectively boost him in a more prominent capacity.
Not only do I agree with him, I’d go a step further and say it may be a long time until we see Howard the Duck in the MCU again, if ever at all. What If… ? ended last December after three seasons, and now that James Gunn is running DC Studios, there’s no indication of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4 will happen with a different filmmaker at the helm (although Vin Diesel did share that a Groot movie is apparently in the works). Unless Joe and Anthony Russo are keen on including Howard in the next two Avengers movies, I can’t of any other project where he could fit in seamlessly.
But I’m happy to be proven wrong, and if that day comes, we hear at CinemaBlend will let you know. Until then, stream all of Howard the Duck’s MCU appearances with a Disney+ subscription.