Many hardcore Marvel fans were incredibly excited to see the big screen return of Howard the Duck in a post-credit scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, which premiered 28 years later on the very same day that the Howard the Duck movie premiered and bombed spectacularly. But fans still love the character and the original comics from the 1970s, so seeing the world-famous Howard back in theaters was a true treat. Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige has said that Howard the Duck will show up in more MCU movies and that he'll show up "where you least expect him." Could this mean that Howard the Duck will get executed by Thanos in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War?

Time has not been kind to the Howard the Duck movie, which some have called one of the worst movies of all time, a botch so big that not even Lucasfilm could save it. Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn even went so far as to claim that the 1986 movie ruined one of his favorite comic book characters. Since we've pretty much been promised that Howard the Duck will show up in the MCU again and when we least expect it, Thanos brutally murdering him isn't too far off.

There was a lot of talk about maybe giving Howard the Duck his own Marvel movie back in 2014, but those rumors have died down considerably and it's safe to say that there's never going to be a standalone Howard the Duck movie within the MCU. On the other hand, the Avengers and crew can use all of the help that they can to battle Thanos, so Howard the Duck's Duckworldian language skills and his quack-fu could come in handy. Plus, the duck has been known to hang out with Taneleer Tivan, the Collector who was last seen with the Reality Stone.

There's a good chance that the Mad Titan is going to track down Tivan to get ahold of the Reality Stone, which he might not give away so easy and may give to someone else who we would least expect: Howard the Duck. It's in this instance that Thanos tracks down our duck friend and brutally murders him to get the coveted Reality Stone. We've already been warned that not everybody is going to make it out of Infinity War alive, so some Howard the Duck MCU collateral damage isn't too much of a stretch. Plus, we know the Guardians of the Galaxy are going to make it out alive to show up in Avengers 4 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Thanos is the big bad, but maybe Howard the Duck doesn't die at his hands, personally. It could be that his Black Order carries out the attack, but it will more than likely be the Mad Titan, especially if he thinks that The Collector is in possession of the Reality Stone. Infinity War is the beginning of the end of the MCU as we know it and it could very likely be the end of the road for Howard the Duck, which is something that nobody would see coming. While we wait for the inevitable death of Howard the Duck in Avengers: Infinity War, check out Kevin Feige's thoughts on the anamorphic duck and his future in the MCU, courtesy of Digital Spy.