Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Director Peyton Reed Talks About Bringing MODOK To Live-Action

The Marvel Universe is filled with strange and unusual characters. And we're not just talking about your run of the mill weird variety like Deadpool, Spider-Ham, Leap-Frog, or the members of the Great Lakes Avengers. There are definitely other characters that are considerably more "out there" than them, yet they still have a legion of fans that love them like they're Captain America or Iron Man. One such example is MODOK.

Originally a former arms dealer employee named George Tarleton who specialized in futuristic weaponry, ol' George takes his experiments a step too far when he attempts to increase his intelligence and overdevelops his head. Now utilizing a weaponized hoverchair and constantly concocting schemes for world domination, MODOK is a reviled villain ... and sometimes the butt of many jokes. But no matter how a creative team may utilize him in a story, the character is capable of some truly heinous acts. And really, that's part of the fun!

Naturally, it stands to reason that the architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe would want to introduce him at some point. True Believers got a little taste on Hulu thanks to the short-lived animated series starring Patton Oswalt, but now filmmaker Peyton Reed has found a way to execute MODOK in live-action for "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," and he's beyond excited for this highly anticipated introduction.

During a press conference earlier today attended by /Film's Jeremy Mathai, the cast and crew of the upcoming "Ant-Man" sequel gathered to promote the film that kicks off Marvel Studios' Phase Five. As the panelists discussed the various elements of the movie they're excited to share with the audience, like Kang the Conqueror and quantum physics, Reed discussed his connection to MODOK and how he's been a long-time fan of the character.

"For me, it was it was a personal thrill. I was a kid who spent a lot of my childhood alone in a room reading Marvel comics and MODOK was always this insane character. He's grotesque. He's a giant head that has been turned into a Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing. That was intriguing. So we started talking about if there a place in the MCU or in the Ant-Man movies for a live-action version of MODOK. What would that look like and how do we go about it?"

In terms of what it would look like, eagle-eyed viewers caught his first appearance in the recent trailers for Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne's latest adventure. Bearing a strong resemblance to his comic book counterpart, MODOK looks great. Although, questions like "how?" and "why?" are still unanswered at this point.

From that point, Reed passed the baton to producer Stephen Broussard, who discussed the inclusion of MODOK even further. He revealed that the House of Ideas had been trying to include the character in the MCU for some time now. However, it took a while to find the right opportunity to introduce him properly:

"It's a very odd character to say, the least. That's kind of what loomed large in our imagination: How and if we could pull that off. It just felt like a challenge going back years here at Marvel. And we hit on an idea and we think we had an idea that we were excited about. I don't want to say too much here in this forum, but I think it was the time was right to bring MODOK to the big screen finally."

Though it's clear everyone is excited to see MODOK come to life, neither of them elaborated on the circumstances surrounding his role in writer Jeff Loveness' script. The details regarding his presence in the Quantum Realm, his relationship with Jonathan Majors' Kang, or even the actor that plays the role are still a mystery at this point. But after his official debut in the trailer, many feel that Corey Stoll's Darren Cross AKA Yellowjacket has something to do with MODOK. While that seems to be the prevailing theory at the moment, the audience will find out for sure when "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" premieres in theaters on February 17, 2023.