What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that though this PG film derives from a Marvel Comics superhero spoof, it's in sort of a no-duck's-land of an audience demographic, with the animal-costumed main character and childish sci-fi (and rock and roll) attitude mixed with satire, violence, and PG-13 raunch better appreciated by grownups. Howard smokes and drinks and reads the duck equivalent of pornography -- we have clues that he's sexually active with a number of lady ducks and nearly has a sex scene with the scantily-dressed human heroine. There is light swearing, and police-as-dumb-goons prevail among the stereotypes. Younger kids might be disturbed by the villain's monster mutations.
- Families can talk about Howard the Duck as a satire of superhero mythologies, and how "serious" Marvel characters such as Spider-Man even made guest appearances in the printed version. Have kids read the original Howard the Duck comics (now in book form, some compilations more risqué than others) to appreciate the spoofing as it was intended. Ask them if they enjoy their comics characters served as big jokes, like the Adam West TV Batman, or completely straightfaced like the X-Men and Iron Man. Impress kids with your superhero knowledge (or just look pretty geeky) by saying that the character of She-Hulk also became something of running spoof for the Marvel writing staff.