Marvel Studios finally brought a live-action MODOK into the MCU in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, leaving fans incredibly torn on how he looked in his long-awaited arrival.
Along with Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, Ant-Man 3 utilized MODOK as a secondary villain, reworking his origin story in a unique way for his MCU debut. Instead of George Tarleton from the comics, Corey Stoll's Darren Cross was revealed as the man behind the floating head, with Marvel bringing his character back after his presumed death in 2015's Ant-Man.
Marvel revealed the first look at MODOK's full form in the second official trailer for Ant-Man 3, with the evil creation coming to life in the Quantum Realm under Kang's rule as he looked to exact revenge on Scott Lang.
Fans Torn on MODOK in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania introduced Corey Stoll's MODOK to the MCU, and fans expressed mixed feelings about his appearance and role in the film.
@zohaib24hdj lamented the fact that MODOK didn't have any "aged wrinkle lines on his face" and the fact that his mouth didn't look as stretched out as it does in the comics, even though they didn't think the final design was bad:
"2 things ruined MODOK 's look: 1. He needed aged wrinkle lines on his face for the classic visual & 2. His mouth needed stretching to the sides of the face, rather than just a cgi human overlay.Both would have been easy fixes, imo. But still I don't think he looks bad"
@hottrashbabe compared MODOK's look to Geroge Lopez's Mr. Electric from The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, saying that Lopez's character looks better:
"incredibly funny that ant man 3 has a $250 million dollar budget and their MODOK looks insanely worse than mecha george lopez from sharkboy and lava girl"
@Spiders_Might didn't think the MCU made MODOK ugly enough, complaining that it was just Corey Stoll's face plastered onto the character's body:
"'Do you hate it because he looks ugly?'
Nah I hate it because it's the opposite, I expected the MCU to give him the ugliest face imaginable, but instead they just cgi a dude's face and head on MODOK's body and called it a day
In a way, he's ugly......but in a bad way"
@conquercomics had a much more positive reaction to MODOK, hilariously comparing him to the fairy tale character Humpty Dumpty:
"I adored MODOK and his stupid little Humpty Dumpty looking ass. Literally."
@replacewythy took the funny route as well, making it perfectly clear that MODOK isn't designed for his looks, but for killing:
"modok's not designed to look cool. he's designed, and I cannot stress this enough, only for killing"
@softyellowpetal also saw MODOK as somebody who had to be "hideous and hard to look at," noting that nothing could make him look good from a CGI perspective:
"People talkin shit about ugly MODOK looks in 'Antman 3' like y’all know he’s supposed to be hideous and hard to look at, right? He’s a giant floating head with a tiny body, no amount of CGI will make him look good LMAO"
@Chaiverson called MODOK "a slight detriment to the movie," unsure if they were meant to be laughing at the character or if he was meant to actually be something cool:
"I felt like MODOK was a slight detriment to the movie honestly. There were so many moments with him where I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be laughing or if it was supposed to be genuinely cool. He really didn’t add anything necessary to the plot either."
ComicBook.com's Kofi Outlaw saw this character as one that will push the limits of how weird things can get for general audiences, calling MODOK "the biggest miss" with a core character in MCU history:
"This one will def stretch the mainstream viewers to the limit in how 'Rick and Morty' weird it is. That said: I liked a lot of it. Michelle Pfeiffer is clutch; MODOK may be the biggest miss the MCU has had with a major character. …post credits set up a W I L D Phase 5 to come"
@ChrispyGameplay praised the MCU for handling MODOK "pretty damn well," noting that he made sense even for how unrealistic the character is:
"I’m gonna say it now, Ant-Man handled MODOK pretty damn well. Literally an impossible/unrealistic character to bring to life, yet they made it made sense. What a fun movie, im excited for the Kang setup, Jonathan Majors fuckin rocks man."
Fandango's Erik Davis was high on MODOK's inclusion, calling him one of "the more ridiculously memorable MCU characters" he's ever seen:
"MODOK is amazing in 'Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania' - don’t let anyone tell you differently. Among the more ridiculously memorable MCU characters imo."
Will MODOK Become MCU Fan-Favorite?
With a wide range of opinions on Ant-Man 3 as a whole, it's no shock that MODOK has fans debating about whether he was a success or not. And especially considering he's one of the most ridiculous characters ever created in Marvel Comics, to see his appearance be so heavily debated was to be expected.
Even though Marvel is certainly taking some liberties with MODOK by giving him a new origin in the MCU, this is yet another way the franchise is riffing on what the comics did and bringing something new to the big screen.
And with CGI being a huge focus from fans as Marvel moves forward into new CGI-heavy projects, MODOK will be a hot topic amongst viewers after being featured so prominently in the MCU's first Phase 5 movie.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing in theaters.
