10. Screenwriter Of Howard The Duck (1986) Says It Isn't Existentialist; Creator Of The Original Comic Says It Really Is
If you've ever sat down and actually read a Howard the Duck comic, you'd have realised almost instantly that such a thing belonged on the page, and nowhere else. That was, in actuality, the point. The character served as a kind of meta commentary on the absurd nature of the comic book industry - to adapt such a thing to the big screen would not only be a waste of time, but would inherently make no sense at all. Make a movie about a comic book character whose primary purpose was to ridicule comic books? No point, right? But try telling that to George Lucas. Yes, George Lucas got it into his head that Howard would make for an awesome feature film, so he set about - in the wake of Star Wars, might I add - to get this thing into theatres. The results were disastrous, of course - unfunny jokes, cringe-worthy performances, and a real sense of... oh, yeah,
pointlessness to the whole thing. The most laughable thing, however, is that the guidelines had been set out from the beginning: the creator of the comic, Steve Gerber, said that his comic was most definitely "existentialist." And yet screenwriter Gloria, who really should have understood her material said: "It's a film about a duck from outer space. It's not supposed to be an existential experience." Maybe it would have helped if you'd had a chat with Steve first, Gloria.