Summary
- The original Marvel vs. Capcom considered including Howard the Duck, but the character was rejected due to a lack of popularity.
- A development essay revealed initial plans for the game, with Howard meant to be a joke character similar to Street Fighter's Dan Hibiki.
- Marvel had rejected many iconic characters for the game, including Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Venom.
Howard the Duck was considered for the roster of Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes before being rejected by Marvel Comics. The Marvel vs. Capcom series is an iconic crossover series. Capcom's partnership with Marvel started with 1995's X-Men: Children of the Atom, and then continued with Marvel Super Heroes. In 1996, X-Men vs. Street Fighter came out, which was the first true crossover between the two brands that kick-started the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
1998's Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes was the third entry in the series, which introduced a wide variety of new characters while maintaining its 2v2 tag gameplay. Iconic characters like Ryu, Mega Man, and Morrigan were representatives on Capcom's side, with Wolverine, Cyclops, and Spider-Man on Marvel's. In an old 1998 development essay by Capcom producer Kenji Kataoka, he revealed some of the initial plans for the title, including how Howard the Duck was rejected from the roster.
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Archived and translated by EventHubs, this essay was part of a defunct website that gave behind-the-scenes information on Marvel vs. Capcom's development. Howard the Duck was initially pitched by Kataoka to be a joke fighting game character in the style of Street Fighter's Dan Hibiki, with the character designer on-board with the idea as well. While there was support from Marvel for Howard at first, a representative later told them that Howard the Duck had no popularity and that they wanted to use characters that actually looked like superheroes. Even after Kataoka tried to explain the joke fighter concept, the answer was still no and Howard was scrapped, only completed halfway.
Kataoka also revealed that Marvel vs. Capcom was originally planned to be a direct Marvel Super Heroes sequel instead of another crossover game with Capcom. Kataoka revealed the initial roster for the tentative Marvel Super Heroes 2 game: Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man, The Mighty Thor, Psylocke, Venom, Jubilee, Mr. Fantastic, and Howard The Duck, with Galactus poised to be the final boss. Most of these roster choices were similarly rejected. "Iron Man? No. Fantastic Four? No. Venom? No way. Howard the Duck? Absolutely not... No, no way, no how, a complete STORM of rejections," said Kataoka.
Marvel was likely still incredibly wary of including Howard as a character in any form, considering how bad the 1986 Howard the Duck film was. While the movie essentially damaged the Marvel brand for a long time, it has a cult following. Howard the Duck has made sporadic appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since then, most notably the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Maybe Howard the Duck could appear in the next Marvel vs. Capcom.
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Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Imagine the battle: Spider-Man vs. Mega Man... Incredible! Or, who would stand victorious in Strider vs. Captain America? Amazing! Now Capcom brings this #1 smash arcade fantasy fighter to the Sega Dreamcast! Experience the world's most insane battles between your favorite legenedary Capcom characters and Super Heroes of the Marvel Universe. All kinds of new features have been added, including online play! Experience these wonderful games with players from all over the world!
Enjoy design documents and other art in the Gallery, hone your skills in refined Training Modes, and enjoy new Filter settings!Don't worry if it's your first time! Use difficulty settings and One-Button Specials to ease your transition into the game!
Fighting
Systems
- Franchise
- Marvel vs Capcom
- Platform(s)
- Arcade, Sega Dreamcast, PS1, PS3, Xbox 360
- Released
- January 23, 1998
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Publisher(s)
- Capcom
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Engine
- MT Framework
- ESRB
- T For Teen
- How Long To Beat
- 1 Hour
