THE FIRST MAJOR MARVEL MOVIE

Do you know what the first theatrical Marvel film is? I don't really count the Captain America serials if that's your answer, sure they were theatrical but they're not really movies, at least not in the usual sense of the word. Marvel has had numerous films over the years, many of which introduce fairly obscure characters to mainstream audiences, their first is quite possibly the most obscure/unconventional hero they could've chosen for a film debut. There's no way around this simple fact, in the beginning there was...

HOWARD THE DUCK!!!!

August 1st, 1986, the date the world got its first cinematic view of not only Howard the Duck but Marvel, it was the date where most people chose not to watch this movie resulting in failure. Howard the Duck was a failure on multiple levels, critics hated it, audiences opted to see anything else, George Lucas had to deal with his first major blunder, while almost everyone else involved had a hard time distancing themselves from the film, it was without a doubt one rotten egg of a film.

The legacy of Howard the Duck was tarnished because of the film, you see despite how odd it may sound, the comics are great, weird but great, due to the film failing no one really bothered with Howard, resulting in years of being labeled as the star of one of the worst films ever made. What may surprise most of you is that Howard the Duck is honestly not that bad, it's not good, but the hate is really too much to the point that I'd say a lot of it comes from people who just want to echo the hate to seem that much closer to certain film crowds. There are plenty of worse films, comic book or not, this film is nowhere near the worst if you think it is, you may need to see more movies.

To be honest I think this is a good poster

I may do an actual review for this film someday, but for now trust me it ain't all that bad as the overly critical want you to think.

If there's one thing I will say is worth respecting about this film is that to me, this perfectly captures why Marvel has had more success then DC on the film front. Most people would assume that Marvel's first film would have to be based on someone incredibly well known, after all why would anyone bother with a lesser known character? Because even the lesser known have the potential to be great, even if they don't live up to it the risk will always be worth it. Marvel let someone who wasn't Superman or Batman popular get a movie, something that has continued to happen to this date, despite the failure, Marvel has had movies based on various characters that were barely popular if at all... Yet DC is barely getting around characters that aren't Superman or Batman.

Last year Howard the Duck returned to the big screen, albeit not the way anyone was expecting, his return in Guardians Of The Galaxy as the post-credits stinger was enough to prove one thing, Marvel has more respect for their characters than DC is displaying. Howard the Duck is in many respects Marvel's Batman & Robin, yet they seem to treat it with higher respect, which is better than trying to hide your mistake, or avoid having anything silly with a no joke policy in hopes that people will take it more seriously.

Howard the Duck is not good by any means, but it's not awful, I respect it and I feel it was a good sign for Marvel, even if it wasn't filled with good news when it was first released. Marvel let Howard return to the big screen on the 28th anniversary of his film, lets hope the 30th brings in the announcement of something to truly celebrate the good that was foreshadowed with Howard the Duck. Before you go here's the cheesy music video from the movie, watch the whole thing I dare you.

P.S. I love DC, but guys if we must be honest their movie department hasn't been so great.

P.S.S. I'm still happy Marvel included this

Written By Octaviano Macias