What If…? Just Made a Sneaky Reference to Marvel’s 1986 Movie With a 13% Rotten Tomatoes Score

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Midway through the final season of What If…?the multiversal Marvel Animation series released its strangest story yet. The premise of “What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?” builds off a Season 1 episode and a throwaway gag. However, the entire concept behind the story is a sly reference to the most controversial element of Marvel’s worst movie. About a decade after the Marvel Age of Comics began, Stan Lee went to Hollywood in order to option Marvel characters to studios for films and television shows. While Marvel enjoyed limited success on TV in the 1970s, its first feature film was 1986’s Howard the Duck.

A niche character, the movie was made because George Lucas of Star Wars fame wanted to adapt the character. To call it a “cult classic” is to give the movie a bit too much credit. It was an ambitious film, but studio demands and the screenwriters’ rejection of Howard’s comic persona derailed everything. It looked like a movie for children, but it was full of adult tropes common in 1980s action comedies. When Howard the Duck showed up in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1, he officially entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What If…? featured the character often, and his final appearance in the series is all about his marriage to Darcy Lewis, a human woman.

Marvel Comics’ Raunchiest Character Led a Feature Film by George Lucas

The Notorious 1980s Flop Was Technically Marvel’s First Foray on the Big Screen

Howard was a crass sapient duck from outer space created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in 1973. His stories mostly served to satirize comics and other pop culture. He and Spider-Man rescued Beverly Switzler, a nude model captured by villains, in his first solo book. As comics catered to more mature audiences, Howard became a raunchier character. Gerber’s stories kept the relationship between Howard and Beverly vague, though later writers would shift it into more disturbing physical territory.

Gerber eventually sued Marvel for ownership of the character, one of the first significant creators’ rights legal battles. Ironically, since they now own Marvel, Disney threatened legal action because of Donald Duck, forcing Howard to wear pants. Nevertheless, Howard kept appearing in his own titles and other heroes’ stories. George Lucas was a fan of the comics and decided to produce a feature based on the character. Originally meant to be animated, the studio didn’t give the production enough time for that. Never one to back down from a special effects challenge, Lucas turned to ILM to realize Howard in live-action.

As What If…? proved, animation allows storytellers to get away with things that wouldn’t work in live-action. A love scene with Beverly, played by Lea Thompson, was one such satirical element. Unfortunately, much of the movie’s comedy fell flat on release, so what was meant to be a funny satire of sexed-up 1980s comedies just became creepy. More thought was put into how Howard’s scalp feathers would stand up in excitement than whether the scene worked at all. As Dr. Ian Malcolm would say, they were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.

How What If…? Subverts the Unintentionally Creepy Howard the Duck Love Scene

Howard and Darcy’s Relationship In the Episode Is Suggestive but Ultimately Silly and Wholesome

Of course, there are fans who think Howard the Duck is a great movie, in large part because of its absurdity. Plagued by tonal inconsistencies, the movie misses its satirical target and instead appears to embrace the regrettable elements of 1980s comedy. Instead of seeing a parody of self-indulgent love scenes, some viewers simply see a real human woman about to get it on with a duck. “What If… Howard the Duck Got Hitched?” further highlights how differently the relationship would play with the subtle unreality of animation.

“We had talked to George for years about should we do this live-action or should we animate it. We really wanted to animate it, but Universal needed a picture for that summer…so George said we could build the duck and do it with the technology we have.” — Gloria Katz in A Look Back at Howard the Duck.

What If…? takes this concept a step and nine months forward. Howard and Darcy were married in a drunken Las Vegas party in Season 1’s “What If…Thor Was an Only Child?” This story picks up with them in the hospital, seemingly celebrating the birth of their first child. Yet, even before the kind of uncomfortable thoughts that accompanied the film can enter a viewer’s mind, a nurse walks in revealing their child is actually an egg.

While the movie’s Howard and Beverly never consummated their relationship, What If…? canonizes it by implication. Along with the sheer absurdity of the egg, their relationship is almost wholesome. Instead of innuendo and double entendre, What If…? couches their relationship in corny sing-alongs and awkward nervousness about being parents. At least, before every alien in the MCU tries to steal it. The couple becomes even more relatable because they are simply trying to rescue their child.

Howard the Duck Is Still Waiting for His Next Big Screen Feature Film

Marvel Studios Limited the Character to Animation Only (For Now)

After Howard the Duck’s MCU cameo, rumors flew about another movie, until James Gunn squashed them. With the miraculous advancement in digital visual effects over the past four decades, a live-action Howard the Duck film could conceivably work better than the 1986 flop. However, his four appearances in What If…? shows animation is still the best place for this character. In fact, before the original Marvel Television division shut down, Howard the Duck was to get his own Hulu series.

The series would’ve been led by Kevin Smith, who would surely have embraced Howard’s raunchy comics’ history. Yet, the What If…? episode subverts those aspects of the character for its comedy. After a lifetime of hard-drinking, smoking, gambling and other vices, Howard is domesticated. In fact, it could serve as a blueprint for a future story with the character, by putting him in a situation that runs counter to fans’ expectations for the character. A classic “duck out of water” story.

To her credit, Thompson adores Howard the Duck fans and her association with the character. Smith cast her in his series before it was canceled. She also appeared in a recent Howard the Duck comic series, as herself. If Howard does come to the MCU in live-action, Thompson wants to direct it. Unfortunately, given the problematic reputation of the film she starred in and a very crowded slate of upcoming projects, What If…? is likely as far as Howard will go.

Howard the Duck Needed to Change to Work in the 21st Century

His Greatest Strength Is Satire, Not Sexist Shock Value

In the infinite multiverse, there exists a reality where the 1986 Howard the Duck movie succeeded as a satire. Since Howard’s creation 50 years ago, pop culture has changed drastically. Many of the elements that gave the comics’ comedy a dangerous edge are now dull. In trying to mock sexual objectification tropes, the film reinforced them. The benefit of the movie’s failure is that Howard the Duck is now the perfect character to satirize the crude, profane and lazy comedy he helped pioneer.

What If…? satirized the most notorious part of the film by putting Howard the Duck into a committed, adult relationship. The very idea is absurd, which is why Howard’s and Darcy’s relationship only began as a throwaway gag about impulsive marriages in Las Vegas. It also gave the characters enough charm and heart that audiences ended up rooting for them in spite of themselves.

This proves the space-duck is a versatile character that works with the right story. Perhaps the next thing Howard the Duck could satirize is the recent struggles with enthusiasm plaguing the MCU at the box office and streaming. With this What If…? appearance, Marvel poked fun at the most notorious chapter in their cinematic history, but they also told a fun story that connected with viewers just the same.

What If…? debuts new episodes of its final daily until December 29, 2024, on Disney+.

“}]] What If…? Season 3 brings Howard the Duck back for another adventure, and it’s one big reference to the creepiest part of the 1986 live-action film.  Read More