Director Willard Huyck’s 1986 movie Howard the Duck has since gone on to change into beloved for all of its raunchy weirdness. But when the film—based mostly on the Marvel Comics character—was first coming into form again within the ‘80s at Lucasfilm, many of the people involved almost immediately had concerns about whether it would work, and not just because of its…weird subject matter.

Even by today’s requirements, a personality like Howard the Duck’s a little bit of an odd option to construct a whole movie round, if solely as a result of he doesn’t have fairly the identical title recognition as different Marvel heroes just like the Avengers or the X-Men. Back within the ‘80s, the idea of a live-action Howard the Duck vehicle was even more absurd, but due to a contractual obligation, Lucasfilm charged forward with the project and set out to cast its duck-billed star.

While the voice role ultimately went to Broadway actor Chip Zien, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he revealed that Robin Williams was originally meant to star as Howard. But within the first few days of shooting, Zien recalled, the late actor’s frustration with the film’s manufacturing course of led to him dropping out. “What I was told was by the third day, Robin said, ‘I can’t do this. It is insane. I can’t get the rhythm of this. I am being confined. I am being handcuffed in order to match the flapping duck’s bill.’” Zien mentioned. “So, on Memorial Day 1985, I got a call from my agent who said, ‘You have to get right to the airport! Robin Williams just quit and you’re now Howard the Duck.”

Actress Lea Thompson—who portrayed Howard’s human love curiosity Beverly— was a significant fan of Marvel’s comics when she signed onto the position, and on the level in her profession had sufficient expertise engaged on big-budget productions to have the ability to sense early on that the movie was in hassle. “I felt like I was dragging Howard the Duck up a hill by myself with my teeth the whole time,” Thompson mentioned. “We had amazing puppeteers, but they were the ones doing the jokes. I was like, ‘It would be great if you could have an actor doing the lines to keep the ball in the air.’ The technical side of making the movie was so difficult and fraught. I kept saying to them, ‘The duck doesn’t work.’”

Even although Williams’ exit, Thompson’s issues, and far of the unfavourable buzz about Howard the Duck had been all early indicators that the film may not be a smash success, the studio stilled appeared intent on ignoring the apparent as taking pictures wrapped. Thompson recalled how the film’s premiere, which Zien wasn’t invited to, was an extravagant affair—reside geese had been even in attendance on the afterparty. When Zien noticed the film in a theater, he couldn’t assist himself from warning different viewers members with youngsters that Howard the Duck wasn’t precisely for teenagers. “I was running around to them and saying, ‘You know, this is not that good of a movie for your child’s age. It gets kind of scary.’” Zien mentioned. “And they would look at me like, ‘Who the hell is the weird guy running around in the theater trying to get people to leave?’”

Howard the Duck’s essential and business failures had been significantly tough for Zien to witness as a result of, within the buildup to the film’s launch, the studio actually had envisioned a future the place the alien hen creature franchise actually turned the subsequent massive factor. “I was supposed to be Howard the Duck as a fill-in host on Entertainment Tonight,” Zien recalled. “I signed a contract to be the voice of AT&T. And I had ancillary rights for talking Howard the Duck dolls. It was overwhelming.”

Today, Howard the Duck’s experiencing a brand new stage of nostalgic recognition that’s an enormous a part of why the character made a cameo in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Though the MCU’s Howard hasn’t been established as having any connection to his earlier cinematic counterpart, Thompson says she’s nonetheless very taken with being concerned with a Howard challenge, which she’s beforehand pitched to Marvel. “Chip [Zdarsky] and I worked together and came up with a really great pitch,” Thompson mentioned. “Marvel liked the pitch, but they have different plans for the different characters. I still think I could do a really good job because I feel like I am the one who really understands the fans, both of the movie and the cartoon.”

The deliberate Hulu present is not on Marvel’s docket, however the character’s upcoming look on Disney+’s What If…? may broaden the world round him in ways in which may carry again a lot of his supporting characters. There’s no method of figuring out what the long run holds for Howard or any of Marvel’s different barely less-than-iconic characters now popping up within the MCU. But if his subsequent massive outing finally ends up being a success with audiences, the chances could possibly be limitless.

What If…?, the subsequent place Howard the Duck will seem, is ready to hit Disney+ on August 11.

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