The arrival of M.O.D.O.K in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is one of the movie’s highlights, and a new image reveals he wasn’t all about the CGI.
This article may contain spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has some pretty bizarre sights to show, but there are none more outlandish than the arrival of M.O.D.O.K. In a new behind-the-scenes image, Quantumania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty writer Jeff Loveness is seen getting up close and personal with the big-headed character…or at least a life-size unfinished prop of him.
In the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe offering, long-term fans of the franchise finally get to see what happened to Darren Cross after he was sucked into the Quantum Realm in the finale of 2015’s Ant-Man. It seems that he ended up being “put back together” by Kang the Conqueror and placed inside a technologically advanced suit that turned him into M.O.D.O.K, or Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing. Of course, it is not untrue to say that the reveal of Darren Cross’ huge face, belonging to actor Corey Stoll reprising his role as Cross, is one of the moments guaranteed to raise a laugh in cinemas, and that is exactly what the ridiculousness of the character brings with it.
In the new image shared on Reddit, Loveness is seen hugging the huge model, which perfectly captures the way M.O.D.O.K appears in the movie. You can check out the fun image below.
M.O.D.O.K’s MCU Arrival Has Been Planned for Some Time
In bringing M.O.D.O.K into the MCU, the character’s is somewhat different from his comic book counterpart and other iterations seen on screen in animated form. However, it has been made clear on several occasions by Kevin Feige that the MCU is an interpretation of the Marvel Comics world and some things are always going to be changed or adapted when required. It seems that this was one such occasion. Director Peyton Reed previously said of the character:
“M.O.D.O.K. has been waiting in the wings for a while. We hit an idea of, as we were going to bring our family into the Quantum Realm [and] in contact with Kang [the Conqueror], how could Kang know about the Ant Family? And then it occurred to me, ‘What happens to Yellowjacket at the end of the first Ant-Man?'”
When it came to M.O.D.O.K.’s design, Jeff Loveness had a specific inspiration in mind when crafting the new version of the character. He said:
“I’ll just say he was inspired by Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda and Frank Grimes in an old Simpsons episode. [He is] this really put-upon, selfish, entitled but then also deeply sad, insecure man who knows that he got a sh*t deal in life and is trying to make the best of it. [He is also] pretty good at killing people.”
Despite being a lot of fun as part of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it seems that M.O.D.O.K’s time in the MCU has been as short as that of Darren Cross. Of course though, this is the multiverse, so somewhere there could be another version of M.O.D.O.K waiting to make an appearance. You can never rule out a variant these days.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is in cinemas now, while you can see where Darren Cross started in Ant-Man on Disney+.
