The following story contains minor spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
31 feature films and 8 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe After the first TV series, things started to get a little weird. If you told most Marvel Comics fans in 2008, when Iron Man first came out, 15 years later we would see the character MODOK (stands for Designed to Kill psychic organisms) in a live-action movie, they might laugh in your face. But here we are.
Part of the disconnect between some of the comic book/superhero adaptations of the early/mid 2000s is that while many of the comics were meant to celebrate diversity The colorful, absurd and exaggerated superhero world, many movies try to embody this spirit. Think of the first X-Men movie, when all the X-Men wore matching dark uniforms, and the whole vibe was “dark realism”. That movie wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t quite what most X-Men fans love when they read author Chris Clarement’s saga The vibe on Mutants.
We will soon be filming the X-Men on the big screen. But where some early 2000s movies failed, the MCU era has largely embraced the big, silly, funny stuff that sometimes finds its way into comic books and superhero stories. While Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, has a Star Wars-esque vibe and takes place in the mysterious and tiny Quantum Realm, it really took some time to dig into it.
It’s especially leaning toward factions when dealing with the characters of MODOK, which has a storied past in the comics, but never before Has been portrayed in the live-action version. Quantumania changed MODOK’s backstory, although the character’s appearance might just be a little too weird for some (And it sure is weird weird!), the movie certainly makes it as campy, quirky and funny as possible. It’s just a weird big floating head!
Let’s talk more about MODOK
Who is the MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?
Marvel Studios
If we consider Quantumania As far as Star Wars is concerned, the MODOK version we encountered was essentially Kang the Conqueror’s Palpatine/Darth Vader’s Boba Fett. Once Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Cassie Lang (Katherine Newton), Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) are accidentally sucked into the Quantum Realm, and they need to know exactly where they are at all times. But we hear mention of an ominous figure, “The Conqueror,” who turns out to be Kang.
We eventually learn that Kang commissioned the “Hunter “After Janet — whom Kang already met when she was trapped in the Quantum Realm — perhaps most surprisingly, “The Hunter,” the moniker given to MODOK, is actually a Marvel Cinematic Universe villain we’ve seen before : Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket, from the first Ant-Man movie. How did Darren Cross become MODOK?
Marvel Studios
Darren in the first Ant-Man movie, he was Hank’s ex-protégé and Scott’s eventual antagonist at their climax , the fight at the end of the film, he ends up being defaced and seemingly destroyed. But, as we find out in Quantumania, he is actually sucked into the Quantum domain, his body was completely destroyed. There was actually a little easter egg in season 1 of Loki with the Yellowjacket helmet floating around in the frame.
However, Kang finally Still found Darren and pumped him up to turn him into the MCU version of a killing machine MODOK Scott, Hank, Cassie, pretty much everyone was so excited to see Darren Surprised, let alone like this. He looks ridiculous, but that kind of fits the point of the character. It’s a fun time.
Who is playing MODOK Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Fever?
Jon Kopaloff //Getty Images
Corey Stoll, who played Darren Cross in Ant-Man in 2015 /Yellowjacket, returns to play as MODOK Quantum Maniac. And this one is having a blast. Darren initially had to be cast as a sinister villain (and, let’s be honest, a complete jerk), while MODOK was essentially cast as a lighthearted comedy joke — albeit a dangerous one. Still an asshole.
And Jonathan Majors did a fantastic job as Kang and the rest of the Ant-Man cast are as good as ever, and you can truly attest that Stoll’s comedic performance is in the movie the best.
MODOK has a long history in Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
MODOK, has appeared in Marvel comics for more than five years, his first official appearance was in 1967 #93 in suspense stories. The original version of this character was a character named George Tarleton, who was an employee of the evil arms dealing company Advanced Idea Mechanics (if this sounds familiar, it’s because the company is Iron Man Part 3, led by Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian).
The original origin of MODOK was that George underwent an experimental process to increase his intelligence, and while it did work, it caused his head to grow into a The enormous size and the rest of his body basically doesn’t work – so he walks around in his little air chair in a super suit.
In 2021, there is a MODOK show on Hulu
Marvel Studios
Another reason why MODOK sounds familiar is because he was a short-lived The Robot Chicken-esque show on Hulu, properly titled MODOK, that run for a single season on Hulu back 2021 .
The show, which featured Patton Oswalt as the voice of MODOK, was basically re-imagined as a suburban dad balancing his nefarious ambitions at work (AIM was recently taken over by a larger Evil corporate takeover) ) and his family at home. The show has some interesting cameos, including Jon Hamm as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Bill Hader as the leader.
Evan Romano Evan is Culture Editor for Men’s Health and has been featured in The New York Times, MTV News, Brooklyn Magazine and VICE. He likes weird movies, watches too much TV, and doesn’t listen to as much music as he does.
