Kevin Smith Reveals Darkhold Would Have Played Central Role in His Howard The Duck Animated Series

Prior to its cancellation, Hulu’s Howard the Duck was apparently going to go places much darker than one might think for the series. In the latest episode of FatMan Beyond, former Howard the Duck producer Kevin Smith revealed the Darkhold was going to serve as a central piece to the plot of the show. As Smith explains, the series would have followed the titular detective as he gathered the scattered pieces of the mystical book in order to get back home.

The Darkhold, naturally, is one of the best-known tomes in the Marvel mythos and is at the root of the most popular theories surrounding the real identity of the glowing book in Agatha Harkness’ (Kathryn Hahn) basement.

“It was going to play a central role in our Howard the Duck cartoon,” Smith tells his co-host Marc Bernardin. “That was the only way for him to get home, was the scattered pages of the Darkhold. I’ve seen WandaVision and if that [book] is indeed the Darkhold, that’s reason enough to kill Howard the Duck right there.”

Shortly after that, the filmmaker reminded fans that Mephisto has little to nothing to do with the Darkhold. Instead, the book was crafted by the demon Chthon. “In the comics, there’s one guy responsible for the Darkhold, and it’s not Mephisto. It’s Chthon,” Smith adds.

As Smith points out, Howard the Duck was cancelled by Hulu (as was Tigra & Dazzler) and if the Darkhold was the reason why, he’s liked WandaVision so much that he no longer cares about the axing of the show.

“Jeph,I spoke to about it not too long ago. He wasn’t like ‘f**k!’ he was like ‘this is cool, I’m ready to do something,’” Smith previously said of the show’s cancellation and subsequent closure of Marvel Television. “Remember, we’re now coming into an age where Kevin Feige has the Marvel shows on Disney+ and they’re gonna be f**king amazing. Everything I’ve heard about WandaVision is f**king incredible.”

Hulu is still releasing Marvel’s MODOK, which comes out May 21st.

What other characters would you like to see in animated properties? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things Marvel!