Kang isn’t the only villain in the new MCU film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. One of the most bizarre Marvel villains makes his live-action debut.
Even this month, the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicks off its 5th phase. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania not only kicks off the new phase, but also lays the groundwork for the biggest threat to haunt the MCU in the years to come: Time-travelling villain Kang (Jonathan Majors) makes his big-screen debut.
Kang, or at least one of his numerous multiversal variants, is not the only villain to be seen in the third Ant-Man film. Another antagonist was revealed in the trailer. And his appearance is so bizarre that writer Jeff Loveness even fears for his job for the Avengers spectacle The Kang Dynasty.
MODOK in Ant-Man 3: Is the weirdest MCU villain too much of a good thing?
He’s a giant head with limbs that are far too small. And his means of transportation of choice is a floating chair. MODOK has been one of the strangest, yet cruelest Marvel villains since his first comic book appearance in 1967. This month, we’ll meet MODOK in live-action form for the first time.
MODOK
In an interview with SFX Magazine (via Comicbook ), Jeff Loveness reveals that no corners were cut in adapting MODOK’s flamboyant and grotesque comic book form for the MCU:
“Obviously we’re very faithful to the comics in terms of the design and the look, but we’ve added that little something extra. “
Here’s an example of how whimsical MODOK looks in the comics and most recently in the comedy series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.:
MODOK in all its glory
The floating super-head’s absurd presence and enormous as well as fragile ego alone will set the tone of Ant-Man 3 in a more oblique direction. Maybe too weird? At least that’s the author’s (not entirely serious) fear:
” I might get fired from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty if people see it. But some of my favourite moments are the ones with M.O.D.O.K. and the dynamics that spring from it! […] He’s a ticking time bomb and I’ve had a lot of fun with him. “
Not too much is known yet about MODOK and his specific role within the plot of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. What we do know, however: In the MCU, it won’t be megalomaniac AIM employee George Tarleton who becomes MODOK (short for Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) through an experiment.
Caution, Spoiler:
In this version, MODOK will be the genetically degenerate form of an already well-known Marvel villain: Darren Cross aka Yellowjacket (Corey Stoll) is back. This one shrunk to subatomic size at the end of Ant-Man, which seemingly killed him. We’ll find out how he got into the quantum plane and why his body was so badly deformed as soon as Quantumania opens in cinemas.
