No, Howard the Duck is not back. Not really. Marvel’s answer to Disney’s Donald Duck makes a cameo appearance in the end credits sequence of “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The press was not shown this cut, but word seeped out quickly. New York Magazine’s Vulture put up a clip, and was quickly admonished to take it down. Marvel fans went into a frenzy. What could this mean?

It means…nothing. It’s just a clever riposte at the end of a very clever movie. There will be no Howard the Duck movie in the future. The only existing Howard the Duck movie was one of the great — colossal– failures of the 1980s. At the time, it cost an enormous $37 million (really probably $50 million). In the US it took in only $16 million.

And the whole thing was a George Lucas production, the only real complete failure on Lucas’s intra-stellar resume. “Howard” was directed by Lucas’s protege Willard Huyck. The screenplay was by Huyck and Gloria Katz, who’d worked on almost everything in the Lucas-Spielberg pantheon. But this was not meant to be. At the time, “Howard” was a very sore joke in Hollywood.

But bravo to the “Guardians” team. Howard sipping Champagne is a snappy end note. “Guardians” is going to go through the roof this weekend. Howard’s appearance is a reminder of what Marvel was, long ago, in another universe.

Quentin Tarantino’s “Hateful Eight” already has a poster. Here it is, courtesy of Vulture/New York magazine. It’s very cool, but it won’t be the last poster. I reported exclusively in May that “Hateful Eight” would start up in November. A poster indicates that movement is at hand. So nice to be excited about something good for a change!

Marvel really knows what it’s doing making films. Who could have ever guessed that they would just keep getting it right, movie after movie, adapting their beloved comics?

On Friday “Guardians of the Galaxy” will extend their hitting streak. Owing a lot to the original “Star Wars” movies, “GG” is a hoot, very witty, full of smart stuff so that while 12 year olds are captivated by the 3D special effects– they’re very good– parents will get a kick out of the film.

The big surprise is that Chris Pratt, of “Parks and Recreation” fame, fits right into the wise cracking mold of Harrison Ford. Pratt leads a pretty impressive cast, too, that has extended cameos from heavyweights like Glenn Close, among others. Keep your eye on the screen and you’ll see both Marvel creator Stan Lee and movie star Josh Brolin skip across the screen.

But then there’s Pratt’s central gang. Zoe Saldana as the tough talking heroine, Vin Diesel as a magic tree, David Bautista as a strong man, and Bradley Cooper– yes, Bradley Cooper– as the voice of Rocket Raccoon, the live animated leader of this pack who owes more to Morey Amsterdam than he does to Yoda. I will offer that this might be Cooper’s best role ever.

And look at that gang– they owe more to “The Wizard of Oz” than to “Star Wars.” Such is the genius of James Gunn and Nicole Perlman’s script that the main characters bond quickly as a family as they skip across the yellow brick road, er, galaxy.

It doesn’t hurt that pop music from the 1970s is its own subplot here. From the Runaways to “Ooh Child”– you’ve got to see Chris Pratt’s dance off–to a Motown finale (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Jackson 5), this is the kind of goofy take on comics and sci- fi that launches a cult. And sequels.

One more thing: somehow this movie connects itself up to “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” I won’t give it away. But Kevin and Kyra should be fairly amused.

Expect huge box office this weekend.