Cast your mind back to the moment just after the credits rolled on James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Xander had been saved, against all odds, and Star-Lord and Co. had shot off into the stars in search of new adventures and treasures to plunder.
But when the camera panned down to The Collector (Benicio Del Toro), battered and bruised after his run-in with an Infinity Stone, the post-credits scene revealed a surprise cameo in the form of Howard the Duck, a niche Marvel character (superhero?) well versed in the fine art of Quack Fu. It was a quirky little Easter egg buried in a film full of them, and those of you who have already seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 will know that James Gunn managed to carve out another cameo for the irreverent Howard.
For the sake of context, and without revealing too much of the sequel’s story, Howard the Duck can be spotted aboard Contraxia, an icy planet that serves as something of a gathering point for the galaxy’s Ravagers and their idiosyncratic rituals. Yondu is one such mercenary who has spent time indulging in the planet’s delicacies, but he’s not that only one. Soon after James Gunn (re)reveals Michael Rooker’s blue-skinned character – a character who very much remains a frenemy to the Guardians – the film directs attention to Howard the Duck for a very brief moment, who can be seen regaling a local woman about his unusual anatomy. “You’re out of luck until you go duck!”
Concept artist Ryan Lang has now taken the time to celebrate Marvel’s quirky character, and released the following piece of art to commemorate the sequel’s launch.
Though it may have lost the top spot to Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant at the domestic box office, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is still a force to be reckoned with across the globe. To date, the Marvel sequel has scooped up a whopping $733 million worldwide, and that number only continues to climb. Howard the Duck for Vol. 3, anyone?