In commemoration of its 35th anniversary, THR spoke with both Chip Zien, the voice of Howard the Duck in the 1986 Marvel movie, and Lea Thompson, who played Howard's human companion Beverly Switzler. Thompson explained that "Howard the Duck" holds a special place in her heart not in spite of but because of its rough critical reception. "I often say my Howard the Duck fans are my favorite fans because they had to earn it!" Thompson said. "It was not jumping on the bandwagon."
Not only does Thompson still retain a fondness for Howard, but she's even attempted to bring him back to the silver screen. Thompson said she put together a pitch for a new Howard the Duck movie along with authors Joe Quinones and Chip Zdarsky (who worked on a recent run of "Howard the Duck" comics), with plans for her to direct the film, should it come together.
"Chip and I worked together and came up with a really great pitch," Thompson said. "Marvel liked the pitch, but they have different plans for the different characters."
Thompson is implying, then, that Marvel has plans for Howard the Duck in the MCU's future, hence why they couldn't move forward with her presumably non-MCU-related story. Howard the Duck has already appeared in the MCU, so his continued involvement isn't a stretch. Alternatively, Marvel may not currently have plans for the character so much as they're intent on retaining sole rights should they decide to further incorporate him in the future.
Nevertheless, an upcoming MCU "Howard the Duck" project remains a possibility, too, particularly one that more closely followed the original comics. At this point, only time will tell how Howard might factor into one of the numerous MCU projects currently in Disney's pipeline.
