Guardians Of The Galaxy Cameo Surprise
By Steve Lam
I know, the wait is killing me too. For people who are searching ravenously for any information regarding Guardians of the Galaxy (which will be released in a little over two weeks … still too long), have I got something that’s more delicious to chew on than Groot’s shoulder leaf. Disney and Marvel Studios, through Stitch Kingdom, have just released their full credits list for the highly anticipated film — and the last cameo will bring back some 80s memories!
WARNING: There are no story-related spoilers, but minor character appearances are revealed.
Let’s start with the guy that made all of this possible, and it’s also not a Marvel movie without a cameo by him — Stan Lee. Lee is confirmed to make an appearance as a “Xandarian Ladies Man.” Next up is our beloved Serenity-captain-turned-murder-mystery-novelist — Nathan Fillion. He’ll be in full makeup as a “Monstrous Inmate.” Legendary heavy metal artist and horror filmmaker Rob Zombie will be using his vocal cords to give life to a “Ravager Navigator Voice.” And Guardians of the Galaxy writer/director James Gunn will make a cameo as a “Maskless Sakaaran.”
But are you guys ready? This is where a little digging around really pays off. It also gives you an idea of how old I am where this could even get me excited. In the end titles, there is a credit to Steve Gerber and Val Mayerick — the creative duo behind Howard the Duck!
For the kids out there, Howard the Duck is a Marvel Universe comic book character who made his first appearance in Adventure into Fear #19. His physical appearance is that of a three-foot tall anthropomorphic duck who wears a shirt and a tie and smokes cigars. Howard was originally abducted from his home planet by Thog the Overmaster and left in the Florida Everglades. There, he eventually meets Jennifer Kale, Man-Thing, Korrek the Barbarian, and Dakimh the Enchanter. Later, he falls off of the interdimensional stepping-stones and is transported to Cleveland, Ohio. Battling Garko the Man-Frog, Howard is arrested for disturbing the peace. Because the police thought he was a strange mutant (due to his odd appearance), they release him and he eventually meets Bessie the Vampire Cow. I’m serious, you can’t make this stuff up. Although, I guess you can since Gerber and Mayerick made it up. Anyways, I digress.
The only time we saw a live-action version of Howard the Duck was in the 1986 Lucasfilm and Universal Pictures movie of the same name also starring Lea Thompson. It was critically and commercially panned upon its release. But you guys should still go out and rent it … err, there I go again with my old people language … I mean Netflix it for nostalgia sake. For Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s unknown as to what form the cameo will be. Some speculate that it could be as simple as Peter Quill reading a Howard the Duck comic book or watching the 1986 movie. Or it could be as big as Howard the Duck making an appearance himself. If this does happen, it could only signal the fact that the studio is interested in rebooting the character for their cinematic universe. That would be, as Peter Quill would say, “No problem at all.” I mean, we already have a wisecracking raccoon.
Keep your eyes peeled for those cameos when Guardians of the Galaxy hits US theaters on Friday, August 1, 2014.