1986's Howard the Duck is definitely one of the most interesting Marvel movie adaptations ever made, not least for the fact that it was the first one! On top of that, it had some huge names involved with the production including one George Lucas, fresh off the phenomenal success of the original Star Wars trilogy, whose Lucasfilm Ltd. produced Howard The Duck, while he served as executive producer. Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Universal Pictures were so confident that audiences would be won over by Marvel's relatively unknown anthropomorphic alien duck, over the likes of fan-favourites like Spider Man and Captain America, that an estimated budget of $38 million dollars was allocated to the production of the movie. At the time, this was a considerable amount, estimated to be considerably higher than those for the aforementioned Star Wars movies.Needless to say, they were wrong to be confident in the movie. It was a commercial and critical disaster. The movie was criticised for its wildly uneven tones, it poor attempts at humor and its terrible effects. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the movie one star out of four, calling it a "stupid film" and said "the story has no center; the duck is not likable, and the [...] special effects [...] are less impressive than a sparkler on a birthday cake.". As well as bombing at the box office, it was nominated for 7 Golden Raspberry awards, winning 4 including Worst Screenplay and Worst Picture.However, over time, like many over many films that flopped upon release, Howard the Duck found a second life as a beloved cult classic, receiving a 4K reissue in 2019. The wisecracking duck even made a number of appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe voiced by Seth Green. This new, albeit niche, group of fans are the type that find pleasure in its leftfield humor and wild storyline and can laugh at the poor effects and appreciate some of the 'so bad its good' qualities. If that sounds like you then check out this list of some absolutely wild comic book movies that would appeal to fans of Howard the Duck.
6 Flash Gordon (1980)
Flash Gordon shares a lot of similarities to Howard the Duck; it's a sci-fi comic book movie that straddles the line between action and humor, and features some highly unconvincing yet amusing 80s special effects. The main difference, however, is that Flash Gordon is more self aware and contains elements of deliberate parody, whereas Howard The Duck is more of an unintentional parody. Despite not being a huge hit upon it release, critics did pick up on this self awareness and it received generally positive reviews. Like Howard the Duck, though, the film has gone on to amass a dedicated cult following, with acclaimed director Edgar Wright citing it as a favourite of his and Seth MacFarlane making numerous references to the movie in his hit 2012 comedy Ted. On a side note, George Lucas, himself, actually attempted to purchase the rights for the film before going on to make Star Wars and Howard The Duck.
5 Batman and Robin (1997)
Joel Schumacher's 1997 Batman & Robin movie is widely considered the worst Batman movie and one of the worst comic book movies ever made, for many of the same reasons Howard The Duck was reviled. It suffered from an uneven tone that verges on parody, with poor attempts at humor, campy action sequences and unconvincing special effects, despite a huge budget. It's also these same aspects that have allowed the flick to develop a newfound cult following, particularly within the LGBTQ community who have embraced and celebrated its campiness and perceived homo-eroticism. It's made all the more amusing that it stars some Hollywood's biggest stars of the time including Arnold Schwarzenegger as the 'puntastic' Mr Freeze and George Clooney as Batman.
4 Super (2010)
Small indie flick Super might not be as well known as the other titles on this list, despite boasting an impressive cast including Elliot Page, Kevin Bacon and The Office's Rain Wilson and being directed by James Gunn, who has gone on to become almost synonymous with comic book movies following the success of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad. Super certainly matches Howard The Duck, when it comes to all-out craziness. While not actually based on an existing comic book, it is about a man who turns to comic books for inspiration to become his own, superpwerless, vigilante superhero. Scott Weinberg of Cinematical described it as, "Chock full of insanely graphic violence, awash in thoroughly un-PC perspectives”, it will certainly appeal to fans of the more adult aspects of Howard The Duck.
3 Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1987)
Superman IV is the Batman & Robin of the 80s. Like Batman & Robin, it followed a number of successful films in the series and had big name actors onboard, in this case, Christopher Reeves returning as Superman and the highly acclaimed Gene Hackman as Lex Luther, and like Batman & Robin, it disregarded absolutely everything that mate the previous films so successful to produce an overwhelmingly dud. Poor special effects, stilted acting and a convoluted, non sensical storyline, this one is definitely only for those who get an almost masochistic kick out of watching these types of 'terrible' movies.
2 Kick Ass (2010)
Unlike Howard the Duck, Kick-Ass is definitely not considered a terrible movie, but it is absolutely insane. The 2010 superhero film directed by Matthew Vaughn, based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, tells the story of a teenage boy played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who sttempts to become a real-life superhero, calling himself "Kick-Ass". Starring Nicholas Cage channelling old school Adam West as fellow vigilante Big Daddy and Chloe Moretz as his foul mouth ultra violent 11 year old daughter, Hit Girl, the film feature gratuitous violence a plenty, coupled with a whole heap of pitch black comedy. Kick Ass is definitely a must watch for those who like their comic book movies on the more extreme side of things.
1 The Mask (1994)
Everyone of a certain age is bound to remember the smash hit movie The Mask starring the inimitable Jim Carrey, at the top of his game, as the eponymous character based on the Mask comics published by Dark Horse Comics. The Mask shares a few of the more zany, whacky charismatics of Howard The Duck, but the humor seems to lands a lot better here. Largely thanks to the impressive performances of Jim Carrey and a solid supporting cast including Camerion Diaz and Peter Greene. It also manages to get the effects side of things right too, with a Best Visual Effects Oscar nod as evidence of this. The Mask would appeal to those fans of the Howard The Duck, who appreciate what the movie was going for but longed for it to just hit the mark that little bit more. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about The Mask's sequel Son of The Mask (2005) that appeals to literally no one.