Most current fans of the Marvel comics and Howard the Duck themselves saw this charismatic hero for the first time in a 1986 movie of the same name directed by Willard Hike. How was his debut on the screens?
Plot
The film is based on the Marvel and Howard Duck comics. It tells the story of a character who lived all his life on a planet inhabited by the same birds as himself. Having become a participant in experiments with teleportation, the hero finds himself in the cozy town of Cleveland, where he meets a young aspiring singer.
Howard protects Beverly from the attacks of local brawlers, and the girl invites the savior home. The traveler is very worried about his unplanned appearance on Earth and wants to understand the situation. Beverly soon introduces Howard to his fellow scientist Phil. Having met with an unusual duck, the guy is in no hurry to provide assistance - he plans to carefully study the unexpected visitor and subsequently receive the Nobel Prize for the experiments. Until the earthlings suspect that Howard is the one who can help them escape from the impending evil.
Critics' Response to Marvel's Howard-Duck Comics Project
The picture was a failure. Surely this was not what the representatives of Lucasfilm and Marvel expected. The film “Howard the Duck” got four Golden Raspberry Awards, despite being nominated in eight categories. So, the film adaptation was called the worst film of the year, while having the worst script. Also, without the “Golden Raspberry,” the visual effects and the central character himself were not without. Tim Robbins was nominated as the worst supporting actor, and Willard Hike nearly became the worst director of the year. This misadventure "Howard the Duck" from the "Marvel" did not end there.
The creation of Lucasfilm Studios was nominated for a dubious award as the worst film of the decade. Has been criticized and the soundtrack to the tape.
Data
About $ 2 million was spent on a key character costume by George Lucas. It is noteworthy that in the film eight different actors put on this robe.
Actresses in the group themselves performed songs sounding on the plot. Leah Thompson , many years after filming, admitted that the studio until the last could not decide whether to leave her original voice in musical compositions or to duplicate it.
For the first time, the Howard duck appeared in graphic novels in 1973 - it was invented by Steve Gerber together with Val Mayeric. Only 13 years later the hero was presented on the screens.
The project turned out to be one of the most disastrous in the history of Marvel Comics film adaptations .
Movie actors
Consider the cast in more detail. Dr. Jenning, whose body the Dark Lord possessed, was portrayed by Jeffrey Duncan Jones, who is known to many for his role as Joseph II in Amadeus. The actor acted in films until 2001, and in 2003 was accused of child molestation, which finally put an end to his career.
Leah Thompson, who took on a leading female role in the film adaptation of comics, began her career in the 80s, and Howard the Duck is one of her first films. Subsequently, the actress has played in many television projects and has no plans to end her career.
Tim Robbins, who played the young professor Phil, gained the greatest popularity of the entire cast. He still starred in successful films, and many viewers remember him in roles in the famous films “Escape from the Shawshank”, “The Mysterious River”, “Nothing to Lose”, “Mission to Mars”, “War of the Worlds” and others.
The key character in the film adaptation was played by several little-known actors hiding behind the costume of Howard the Duck, and was voiced by Chip Zane.
Biography and abilities
Howard was born in a world inhabited exclusively by intelligent anthropomorphic birds. According to the plot of the graphic novel, the hero was kidnapped from home, after which he ended up in the Everglades. Without much enthusiasm, he joined the group of Korrak the barbarian. After some time, the wanderer ended up in Cleveland, where he had a fateful meeting with a girl named Beverly. Unlike most other Marvel heroes, Howard does not possess any notable superhuman powers. Once he realized that he had some talents in magic, but did not develop them.
Howard the Duck Returns
It would seem that after such a staggering fiasco of the film we will not hear references to Howard the Duck from Marvel for a long time. Guardians of the Galaxy, led by director James Gann, decided otherwise. As you know, projects on Marvel comics are always accompanied by interesting scenes after the credits. Often such episodes serve as announcements for the next pictures of the series or reveal important details of the film shown, so fans are waiting for them with special trepidation. The Guardians of the Galaxy were no exception, whose fans hoped to see some key events after the credits.
It seems that the director decided to play a trick on the audience, and in one of the scenes he simply showed Howard the Duck and Cosmo's dog, which appear in the Collector’s cloister, mourning near their broken windows.
Securing Success
After the hero made his debut in an updated image in the first part of Guardians of the Galaxy, many expected the famous anthropomorphic duck to flash again in the frame, and this really happened. At the beginning of the second series, there is an episode when the Ravagers with Yondu find themselves in a brothel, and there you can see Howard flirting with women.
Marvel Howard the Duck Battles
It’s hard to find someone who wouldn’t hear anything about the characters created by Marvel. Many fans of Iron Man, Hulk, X-Men, Captain America, Black Widow, Spider-Man and other heroes spent a lot of time in front of television screens, watching their adventures and battles.
However, for some fans of the movie universe this was not enough, and especially for them exciting games were released. Owners of iOS devices can not only play on the battlefield for one of the characters, but also fight with one of them in the “Battle of Champions”. The Marvel Howard Duck is also on the list of game heroes, and each has the opportunity to form his own team of fighters with his participation.