Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has left fans scrambling to dig up every scrap and clue they can find about the next chapter of the Lang/Pym/van Dyne family saga. This is partly because of the villains who are supposed to appear, with Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror stepping out of his Loki cameo and into the broader phase 4 Marvel Cinematic Universe to establish himself as the next big bad since Thanos got blipped out of existence at the end of Avengers: Endgame.
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Previously, the clearest glimpse fans got of MODOK as the character will appear in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was in the form of a T-shirt of all things, and even that was barely a glimpse. The character, now in the three-dimensional form of an upcoming Funko Pop collector’s figurine, is more fully realized, being a fully armored version of the big-headed leader of the terrorist organization AIM from the comics and Hulu TV series. There’s an indication that the being, the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing (to give the full weight to the acronym), might be fully mechanized in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, making the villain’s name as literal as possible.
With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania going into the multiversal terrain of the latest Marvel Studios entries, it’s unknown what role this incarnation of MODOK will have in the film. It’s unclear if he’s fully mechanical and or someone in an armored suit, but at least fans can now see the giant head, golden armor, and red glowing eyes of the new cinematic incarnation in toy form. Whatever the case with this MODOK, it’s not as if Marvel Studios couldn’t change the character later. Ben Kingsley went from playing the Mandarin as a front for Aldrich Killian’s terrorist organization to a sidekick of Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This means that even if this version of MODOK is wholly mechanical, there could still be a cyborg one that appears later on.
The original MODOK was a Jack Kirby creation, a janitor for AIM named George Tarleton whose father ran the organization. After a scientific mishap one day, Tarleton, grievously wounded, was transformed into the Mechanized Organism and went on to take over AIM and become a thorn in the side of many a Marvel hero. He was recently featured in a now-cancelled Hulu animated MODOK sitcom, where he was voiced by Patton Oswalt and animated in the style of Robot Chicken, telling the story of a family man trying to balance work and home life to be the best villain he could be. Fans will have to wait and see if the MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania stacks up.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, 2023.
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Source: Funko/Twitter
