Kevin Smith, of mild fame from the “Clerks” franchise and Mallrats, among other things you may or may not have heard of, recently publicly expressed his gratitude to Marvel on Monday through Twitter for allowing him to produce an adult animated series based on their “Howard the Duck” comics. The tweet- appropriately laced with carefully chosen aviary puns- has fans brimming with excitement at what he may have in store for the oft-maligned character.
Thank you to @Marvel & @hulu for letting me do fowl things to Howard in animation! But the *real* brains of our operation is a legit cartoon genius - the great Meatwad himself, Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s @DaveWillis2! Prepare to get Ducked hard! https://t.co/ofQDnuHAbo— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) February 11, 2019
Following an unsuccessful film in 1986 (executive produced by George Lucas, no less), the character was quickly stowed away, never to be seen again for decades until a momentary postlude scene in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” brought back all those horrifying memories from a time long forgotten- and possibly a sliver of hope that there might be some possibility of a screen career for this fowl-mouthed creature yet.
Marvel had a string of successes with their various Netflix series, but will the transition to Hulu prove successful for the Disney subsidiary? Only time will answer that question, and with three other animated series based on Marvel characters being produced in tangent (those being M.O.D.O.K., Hit-Monkey, and Tigra & Dazzler) with a proposed crossover series after that (aptly titled “The Offenders”), it seems like fans and critics alike will have a lot on their plates in the coming months.
-Wes Ball