10 Terrible Superhero Movies With One Redeeming Feature
5. Howard The Duck Took Huge Creative Risks
Say what you will about Howard the Duck - and people have said plenty over the years - but LucasFilm and Univeral took a huge creative risk when they brought the feathered Marvel Comics hero to cinema back in 1986.
Generally speaking, Superman, Batman and Spider-Man movies are critic-proof. Even if they're terrible, they're bound to recoup their lofty budgets and make the studio a tidy profit after that, but oddball comic book creations that fly in the face of every superhero trope you can imagine have always been a massive gamble.
In Howard's case, it was a gamble which didn't pay off, and it's easy to see why. Unconvincing special effects, tonal inconsistencies and bizzare inter-species love scenes were enough to see this duck roasted on arrival. The film broke even at the box office but made virtually no profit and swept the Razzies in 1987.
Howard the Duck was a critical and commercial failure (and a weird one at that), but the decision to take a punt on a little-known character is a brave one that should be praised. When superhero blockbusters became mainstream, years of homogeneity followed before this kind of outside-of-the-box thinking was seen again.