There Is Only One End-Credit Scene After 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' - Here's What It Means

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guardians of the galaxy benicio del toro

Marvel

Warning: If you have not seen "Guardians of the Galaxy," there are major spoilers below!

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You know the drill by now.

Don't head out as soon as "Guardians of the Galaxy" is over. Stick around after the credits for an extra scene.

Marvel loves adding extra scenes often teasing future movies during and after its end credits.

For the past few movies, Marvel Studios has given viewers two extra scenes to watch. One scene will tease a future film in the larger Marvel universe. The other will expand on a moment from the current film.

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If you left the studio early and missed what happened, we have you covered.

Last chance to head back before spoilers!

What happens:

the collector guardians of the galaxy

Marvel

The scene pans down over the wrecked ruins of The Collector's (Benicio del Toro) trophy room after it was destroyed earlier in the film. We see The Collector, a man who collects rare and exotic items across galaxies, beleaguered and injured while sipping a beverage out of a green cup. A dog dressed in an astronaut suit comes up to him and licks his face.

All of a sudden a voice offscreen asks, "What do you let him lick you like that for?" The camera then cuts to none other than Howard the Duck, a sci-fi creature from Marvel, who says "Gross" before sipping from his own bright green cup.

After the scene the words, "Howard the Duck created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik" appear.

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If this scene sounds familiar, it's because it leaked online earlier this week ahead of the film's release before quickly being pulled down.

Fans have been freaking out trying to uncover where the duck appears in the film after the fowl's name was spotted in the credits by site Stitch Kingdom.

It's not the only time we see Howard in "Guardians." Director James Gunn recently told /Film you can catch a glimpse of the fair-feathered friend when The Collector first appears on screen.

Upon a second watch, we did spot Howard near the upper right hand corner of the screen in his own tiny cell when Del Toro first turns to face the audience in the film.

Who's Howard the Duck and why is he in "Guardians of the Galaxy"?

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As we mentioned, Howard was a Marvel comic character first introduced in 1973, so he's fair game for Disney to use in one of its movies since acquiring Marvel for $4 billion in 2009.

In 1986, Howard was the focus of a live-action Universal movie, "Howard the Duck," produced by George Lucas - yes, that George Lucas. This is how most audiences are familiar with the character.

However, it's really interesting that he appeared in "Guardians" if you know anything about the character's history with Disney.

Shortly after his creation in '73, Disney threatened Marvel with legal action claiming Howard the Duck's satirical design bore a striking resemblance to Donald Duck.

howard the duck comics

Marvel

"Howard the Duck" issues 1 and 8.

According to an archived Silver Bullet Comics interview - now known as Comics Bulletin - with Howard the Duck co-creator Stever Gerber, Marvel came to a bizarre deal with Disney that virtually allowed the Mouse House to redeisgn the character.

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"To avoid litigation, Marvel's old management signed an incredibly stupid agreement with Disney. Under its terms, all future appearances of Howard must conform to a set of designs that Disney provided for the character. You've seen this design. It's the one from the black-and-white HTD magazine, with the ghastly swollen beak, the beady eyes, and the baggy trousers that make the duck look like a derelict. What's absolutely astonishing, though, is that the Disney agreement is worded in such a way that Marvel isn't even permitted to create a new, alternative design for the character, even if that design bears no resemblance to Donald."

Here's how Howard looked after the redesign in the comics.

howard the duck

Marvel

Issues of "Howard the Duck" from January 1979 and January 1986, respectively.

You can take a look at the sheet calling for redesigns to Howard, here.

It's worth noting the version of the character in "Guardians" appeared more like his original self, and without pants.