Outside of A-listers like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, Marvel Studios has found a way to deliver plenty of more obscure characters through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some of these prominently come from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Along with heroes like Rocket and Groot becoming household names, fans are now on the lookout for personalities as out there as Howard the Duck.
Howard has played an interesting role throughout his time in the MCU having first debuted in the post-credits scene from 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy. He made a quick cameo appearance with the Ravagers in Vol. 2 before showing up in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment during the widely popular Avengers: Endgame portals scene.
Howard's biggest role yet came in the 2021 animated series What If...?, which featured actor Seth Green reprising the role in two episodes. Quickly regaining his popularity by serving as a more important part of those two episodes than any previous project, the alien duck easily held onto his fan-favorite status.
Having seen only about 15 seconds of screen time in the live-action MCU, there is certainly room for Howard's story to continue, whether he plays a leading role in any future projects or not. Even more exciting is the fact that fans may now know where that next appearance will come, which could be less of a surprise than initially expected.
Howard the Duck Meets She-Hulk?
Twitter user @tuttiquantinoob shared an image of a clipping from Picsou Magazine, an officially licensed Disney magazine that's published in France and highlights Scrooge McDuck character. A piece of the latest issue teased that Seth Green's Howard the Duck may be set to appear in Marvel Studios' upcoming She-Hulk show coming to Disney+ this year.
While the magazine didn't provide any details on how big the character's role will be, the web-footed hero was teased to be "part of Marvel's plans again" for She-Hulk (Editor's note: This description has been roughly translated from French):
"A webbed future? Howard the Duck seems to be part of Marvel's plans again: in the What If...? series, he got married to Darcy Lewis...Does the duck, elected in 2009 as one of the strangest characters in the Marvel team by "Time" magazine, have a promising bright future? In any case, the She-Hulk series, which lands this year on Disney +, could reserve some "what the duck" surprises! This should delight lovers of this turbulent duck, determined to do as he pleases."
Superhero Lawyer and Howard, the PI?
As wild as this news may seem, She-Hulk does have some interesting history with Howard the Duck in Marvel Comics' extensive history.
The two were seen together as early as the 1980s in titles like Sensational She-Hulk #14, Howard has taken on a different role in more recent runs from the 21st century. Namely, he's been known to take on jobs as a private investigator, where he and Jennifer Walters would often cross each other's paths, although they usually weren't on the same side of the law.
How could this translate to the MCU? One major plot point could provide the answer: Howard the Duck is still on Earth.
She-Hulk's Potential Use of Howard the Duck
While he was only seen for a split second behind the Wasp and amongst the Ravagers, viewers could clearly see Howard marching into battle against Thanos at the Avengers facility in Avengers: Endgame. Even though it's presumed that most of the warriors from the battle went home after saving the world, there are no guarantees that Howard took a journey back to outer space.
Howard would need to travel across the United States to get to Walters' location, which is likely to be in Los Angeles, California thanks to images teasing her college days at UCLA. But in all reality, how difficult would it really be for an alien visitor to hop on a six-hour flight from New York to LA?
She-Hulk is already confirmed to be a half-hour legal comedy, with the production design likely taking inspiration from 21st-century comedy shows like The Office and Modern Family. Throw a character as funny and wild as Howard the Duck into the mix along with a seven-foot-tall green lawyer, and there are bound to be plenty of laughs from those interactions alone.
It will be some time until Howard's inclusion in She-Hulk is confirmed, especially with no confirmed release date in place yet for the 10-episode series. However, if and when that comes, Howard the Duck will be in for potentially his most memorable MCU moments to date.
She-Hulk will debut on Disney+ sometime in 2022.
