Jeff Loveness, one of the writers on Ant-Man 3, has declared MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might just get him fired from future Marvel projects. Particularly in the upcoming Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. He revealed this during an interview with SFX Magazine (via CBR).
It’s always wonderful to hear that writers for a particular movie are also highly familiar, if not fans, of the characters and stories that studios hire them for. Writers have this level of glee whenever they get to pay homage to a certain character in literature. They hope they get to give the character justice in their adaptation of the tale.
This is probably what Loveness is talking about as the upcoming third movie of the little guy comes this month. Apparently, his favourite is MODOK. Yes, that guy with the big head.
Ant-Man 3’s M.O.D.O.K. Is One Of the Writer’s Marvel Favorites
READ MORE: MODOK First Look Revealed In Ant-Man 3 Trailer
As soon as the official trailer was available, fans scrutinized it frame by frame. Finding among the many easter eggs and formulating theories for the movie, people notice that character for a few seconds in the clip.
Comic book readers, as well as animated series viewers, immediately identified MODOK. If anything, the character only made Marvel fans even more excited to watch the movie. Loveness shares this excitement, saying:
…Obviously we are very faithful to the comics with the design and the look, but then there is a little bit of extra we put into him. Maybe I’ll get fired off [Avengers: The Kang Dynasty] when people see it, but some of my favorite moments come from M.O.D.O.K. and the dynamics there!
Not putting that specific “it” into detail, the writer promised that the character is what makes the movie fun. MODOK in the comics stands for Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing. Marvel legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the character, which first made its cameo appearance in Tales of Suspense #93 in September 1967 and its full appearance the following month in its issue #94.
The character has human origins in the comics as well, his human name is George Tartleton he underwent mutagenic experimentation to further elevate his intelligence. As a villain, he has his own encounters with the Avengers, especially with Captain America, Iron Man and the Hulk. M.O.D.O.K. has his own path of research and mutation due to his experiments.
M.O.D.O.K. in Ant-Man 3 Proves Marvel Multiverse Truly In Play
Credit: Marvel Comics Group
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A more recent animated series adaptation of the character depicts him as a villain who, after failing in conquering the world, tries to go on with his life as an employee of another evil company. Having failed, he is going through his midlife crisis while providing for his family. Patton Oswalt, who lends his voice to the character, also created the series for Hulu with Jordan Blum.
The 10-episode series got an 86% average on the Tomatometer with a 67% average on the audience score. Personally, I think there is a high chance that the M.O.D.O.K. in the animated series gave much inspiration to the upcoming live-action adaptation.
Loveness apparently described the character as one that is trying to make the best out of what he was dealt with while displaying not-so-favourable tendencies in his personality. The writer shares:
He’s a real loose cannon character and I had a great amount of fun with him. That was almost day one in the room – we cracked M.O.D.O.K. as a character and the movie just became so fun.
Whether or not M.O.D.O.K. will be playing a major role in moving the narrative forward for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, people are already expecting he will provide much of the comedy for the film. Then again, Marvel could suddenly go all megalomaniac on him and they’d still be true to the comic book source.
Are you looking forward to seeing the live-action version of M.O.D.O.K. in the MCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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I believe the M.O.D.O.K. from the cartoon series served as a major source of inspiration for the impending live-action remake.