It is not unfair to say that Howard the Duck has had something of a chequered past when it comes to Marvel movie appearances. Having been selected as the first ever Marvel character to be put on the big screen back in 1986, the movie was considered such a failure that it almost killed off the careers of Lea Thompson and the great Tim Robbins, had its name changed overseas from Howard the Duck to Howard…A New Breed of Hero to try and hold back on the Howard the Turkey jokes and remained the bad egg of Marvel for a couple of decades. However, as well as the movie now being considered a cult classic, the character has also made his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe via the Guardians of The Galaxy movies and now What If…?, which have featured him in cameo appearances voiced by Family Guy’ s Seth Green.
Speaking in a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Seth Green talked about the character and where he see’s Howard’s future in the MCU going. Considering the first time he knew that Howard was appearing in that now famous Endgame cameo was when he saw it in the cinema, Green seems to sometimes be the last to know exactly where the sarcastic duck will turn up next.
“I didn’t know Howard was going to be in Endgame until I saw him come on screen,” Green said, confirming that he had no idea prior to seeing the movie of the character’s brief appearance in the final battle. Green has reprised the role again in Marvel’s What If…? series but as it turns out, like other actors, the lines for the show were recorded a long time ago.
“Oh, geez, I don’t know. It’s a year plus COVID at least. It’s a while, I don’t know, it’s been awhile. I’ve lost track of how… Time, it’s a circle, right? Time’s a circle. I did it quite a while ago, and it’s awesome to be a part of it,” Green explained. “I loved What If…? as a comic growing up, I loved the way you would get to see battles between characters that you would never get to see fight, the way you would hear stories or interactions, or just even a chance meeting between characters that never would happen in a normal circumstance, I love that. So getting to see that in an animated series is especially satisfying.”
Green’s appearances as Howard have mostly been via the Guardians of The Galaxy movies, and as we know, James Gunn is just about to start the real work on the third, and potentially final, film in the series, but Green doesn’t know yet if Howard the Duck will feature.
“I don’t know if Howard’s a part of it, I haven’t heard anything about that,” he said. “The only thing I know is that it’s the girls’ story, it’s the sisters’ story, that it’s Gamora and Nebula’s story. So I don’t know if it’s a prequel, or if it comes off in the new timeline that’s splintered post-the Time Heist. Honestly, I don’t know anything about it. I wouldn’t be hurt if Howard’s not a central character to the sisters’ story.”
While it would seem to be something of a crime if Howard doesn’t complete his Guardian‘s cameo trilogy, it sounds like Green would be one of the last to know anyway, so there is still a good chance we will get to see Howard in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3, but beyond that is less What if and more who knows This news comes courtesy of ComicBook.com.