Lea Thompson continues her campaign to direct a Howard the Duck movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having starred in the notorious original adaptation of the character for the big screen in 1986. The original Howard the Duck became one of the worst-reviewed films of all time and flopped financially at the box office. However, the movie has recently experienced a recent cult following after his cameo appearances in the MCU, including Guardians of the Galaxy, and Avengers: Endgame.
SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY
Howard the Duck follows the titular anthropomorphic duck as he lives trapped on Earth, with his comics consisting of social satires with existentialist undertones. With the character's resurgence in popularity, Thompson has been trying to get a Howard the Duck movie made for a few years, pitching it to Marvel alongside comics writer Chip Zdarsky. Marvel ultimately passed on the project, but included the character recently in two episodes of What If…?
While being interviewed on The Tonight Show, Thompson remains hopeful that a new Howard the Duck movie will be made with her in the director's chair. She says she's been directing sci-fi shows recently in hopes of learning about visual effects, just in case Marvel changes its mind. She also points out that the studio needs to hire more female directors going forward. Read her quote below:
Well see, I wanted, I’ve been in to pitch a Howard the Duck movie, with Chip Zdarsky, who did the comic book, the last run of the Howard the Duck comic book, he put me on the cover. And so we went in and we pitched it… I’ve been directing a lot of sci-fi shows, big shows, to learn how to do the special effects, and all that. […] But yeah, I’ve been trying to learn all my special effects, just in case Marvel calls. You need some more women directors!
Why Did Marvel Turn Down A New Howard The Duck?
Thompson is right when she says Marvel needs more female directors (at time of writing, only 2 out of 29 MCU films have been directed solely by women.) But it's easy to understand Marvel's concern for wanting to put up hundreds of millions of dollars on redoing Howard the Duck, one of the biggest flops in cinema history. On the other hand, Marvel is one of the largest companies on Earth and certainly has the resources to hedge its bets on a less conventional product.
Though Thompson's passion for the project is clear, there are still no plans for audiences to see Howard the Duck on the big screen in the near future. As unique as a twist it would be, and nostalgic for older comic movie fans, the original movie's reputation is so infamous, Marvel will unlikely change its tune about such a large investment. In the end, it would certainly be unique if Thompson got to direct Howard the Duck on her terms, but after several years of pitching to Marvel, it looks like the project isn't in the cards for the near future.