While the MCU has turned into the biggest cinematic franchise of all time for good reason, the first-ever Marvel movie from 39 years ago is so bizarre that it’s no wonder the franchise took so long to come together. It isn’t as if Marvel sidesteps all things bizarre in the MCU. It does, after all, adapt some wild concepts from Marvel Comics – from Asgardian aliens to the Quantum Realm. This is what makes the MCU so magical, as it straddles the line between the sublime and the ridiculous, delivering genuinely touching and grounded stories while remaining comic-accurate.

It isn’t as if the MCU is without its missteps, of course. Yet even the MCU’s worst-rated movies aren’t as widely panned as some of the earliest superhero movies ever made. In fact, at a time when DC’s Batman was dominating cinema, Marvel characters were starring in such movies as the direct-to-video and critically panned Captain America in 1990. As wild as that release was (debuting the most terrifying version of Red Skull in the process), it didn’t hold a candle to its Marvel movie predecessor starring a character infinitely more obscure than Cap.

Howard The Duck Being Marvel’s First Feature Film Only Gets Weirder With Time

Howard The Duck Was Marvel’s First Live-Action Movie Produced By Lucasfilm

Howard the Duck was released in 1986 as Marvel’s first-ever feature film. Its protagonist, the тιтular Howard the Duck, is one of Marvel Comics’ most bizarre characters whose role was to deliver satirical takes on real-world events in his misadventures as an anthropomorphic duck navigating a human world. Despite his relative obscurity today, he was a hit among comic book fans of the late 1970s for his more adult-oriented satire. This would lead to the development of a Howard the Duck movie, though the character had significantly declined in popularity by 1986.

Unlike the MCU movies of today, Howard the Duck departed quite substantially from the source material. Instead of being a generally ill-tempered antihero, Howard is portrayed as a much more amenable character. Additionally, instead of being used as a vehicle for satire, the filmmakers (which included Star Wars’ George Lucas as producer) decided to lean into the funnier, more absurd side of the anthropomorphic duck navigating Earth. Unfortunately, the movie bombed and was critically lambasted – even earning four Razzies and being nominated for seven. 39 years later, the existence of this movie remains particularly bewildering.

The MCU’s Movie Empire Makes Marvel’s First Movie Choice Look Even More Bizarre

There Aren’t Many People Who Know About Howard The Duck

Of course, it’s hard to reconcile the overall quality of Howard the Duck with the standards of the MCU today. While the MCU has started to push the boat out with its concepts, using such tools as the multiverse to venture into weird and wonderful territory like Werewolf by Night and Marvel Zombies, it is only able to do so confidently off the back of the success of the MCU’s back catalog. To think that Marvel Studios’ record-breaking franchise began with a movie as bizarre and unsuccessful as Howard the Duck is pretty mind-blowing.

Now, Howard the Duck has started to return in a far more comic-accurate capacity in the MCU, as voiced by Seth Green. The character more closely resembles his comic book counterpart, while the multiverse has yet to deliver the original live-action iteration as a variant. Despite helping out in the Battle of Earth in Avengers: Endgame and starring in one of the most bizarre episodes of What If…? ever made, it remains unlikely that Howard the Duck will contribute to the MCU in a more meaningful capacity – and past experience dictates that perhaps this is for the best.

Upcoming MCU Movies

• 
  
  

  
  

  Captain America: Brave New World

  
  
  

  Release Date

  
  February 14, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  Thunderbolts*

  
  
  

  Release Date

  
  May 2, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  The Fantastic Four: First Steps

  
  
  

  Release Date

  
  July 25, 2025
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  
  Powered by

  
  

  
  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  Spider-Man Homecoming 4

  
  
  

  Release Date

  
  July 24, 2026
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

• 
  
  

  
  

  Avengers: Secret Wars

  
  
  

  Release Date

  
  May 7, 2027
  

  
  
  
  

  
  

  Powered by

  
  

  
  Expand
  Collapse
  

Source: Rotten Tomatoes/YouTube