Howard the Duck Was Originally Part of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’

Avengers: Infinity War already included practically every major Marvel Cinematic Universe character, but early drafts of the script also made room for at least one more less-than-major character — Howard the Duck.

Co-director Anthony Russo confirmed Howard’s early inclusion in the film during an interview with Fandom.

“Howard the Duck was in one draft of the script,” Russo said. “Howard the Duck actually had a really good scene … we were going to cameo with [The Hangover and Community star] Ken Jeong, with Howard the Duck. That was a much-beloved scene by us but it just didn’t end up fitting at all.”

Co-director Joe Russo offered a description of the scene: “Yeah, it was [Peter] Quill trying to track down some information from Howard the Duck on some outlier planet and interrupting him during a poker game.”

Anthony Russo adds, “So there were lots of ideas and iterations that were on the floor for this one but I think we would end up in the correct place. It’s all a process. Sometimes you are actually just writing a bible to the universe of what that movie is and have to pare it down to what the actual narrative is.”

Howard the Duck made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Guardians of the Galaxy as a creature kept in The Collector’s gallery. He appeared again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. He was created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in 1973 and became surprisingly popular, so much so that Lucasfilm and Universal Pictures made a Howard the Duck movie in 1986. The film ultimately bombed at the box office and was panned by critics, leaving Howard in obscurity to all but the dedicated Marvel readers. As such, it was a surprise to see him pop up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, let alone be considered for inclusion in Avengers: Infinity War.

Would you have liked to have seen Howard the Duck in Avengers: Infinity War? What other Marvel characters should have gotten a cameo in the film? Let us know in the comments!

Avengers: Infinity War is now available is now available as a digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, Aug. 14.

Ant-Man and the Wasp is now playing in theaters. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5th, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.