Guardians of the Galaxy was packed with several notable surprises, from that mysterious Orb being one of the Infinity Stones to Baby Groot winning our hearts while dancing to "I Want You Back." However, arguably the biggest surprise for hardcore comic book fans was a cameo from Howard the Duck, a character who has long been a source of ridicule due to his 1986 train wreck of a movie. While the chances of Howard receiving his own spinoff movie are slim to none, it sounds like we could see more of Marvel's most famous anthropomorphic duck again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
This past weekend at the Heroes & Villains Fan Fest in Atlanta, Georgia (via Comicbook.com), Drax the Destroyer himself, Dave Bautista, informed a panel audiences that there's a good chance Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 director James Gunn will insert Howard the Duck into the sequel just like he did in 2014. In Bautista's words:
As long as there's a James Gunn directing the film, there's a possibility of a Howard the Duck [cameo].
This isn't the first time Howard the Duck's possible inclusion in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has been teased. Earlier this year, it was reported that a scene had been shot featuring the talking waterfowl, though no details were provided about how exactly he would be involved. It's doubtful that Howard will be a integral player in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, let alone the entire MCU, but it would be fun to see the wise-cracking duck return, whether in another brief cameo or if he's upgraded to a having a minor role. Dave Bautista's comment also leaves hope for Howard appearing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
In case you've somehow forgotten about Howard the Duck's surreal appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy, he was briefly spotted in a display case during the main movie as part of The Collector's...well, collection. Later in the post-credits scene when The Collector sat by his destroyed museum, Howard (voiced by Seth Green) sat nearby and criticized the eccentric entity for letting Cosmo the Spacedog lick his face. Funny enough, James Gunn didn't originally plan on including Howard the Duck in Guardians of the Galaxy because the original post-credits scene was supposed to tease Avengers: Age of Ultron. When Captain America: The Winter Soldier "stole" that, Gunn and editor Frank Raskin noticed in their existing footage that Beneicio del Toro looked to the side at a box, thus providing a way to sneak Howard in and redeem the character a little bit for that movie of his that still occasionally haunts our dreams.
With or without Howard the Duck's participation, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters on May 5, 2017.
