Director Peyton Reed Talks MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is the biggest Ant-Man film, and audiences will be treated to one of the biggest threats in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors. Another antagonist in the film is MODOK, a Marvel supervillain who has had his very own Hulu animated series. This week, the giant head will be having his big-screen debut in the third Ant-Man film, and director Peyton Reed and producer Stephen Broussard discuss what fans and audiences can expect.
MODOK stands for Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, and he was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Tales of Suspense #93 back in 1967. In the film, the deadly foe has a thing to settle with Scott Lang, who’s portrayed by Paul Rudd. Playing the part of MODOK is Corey Stoll, who previously portrayed Ant-Man’s villain Darren Cross, aka Yellowjacket.
“For me, it was a personal thrill,” Reed said during the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania press conference. “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, and he’s grotesque. He’s a giant head that has been turned into a mechanized organism designed only for killing. That was intriguing.”
The design of MODOK is intriguing just for the reason that he’s a giant head with tiny limbs with the ability to fly.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s a very odd character, to say the least,” Broussard said. “It’s kind of loomed large in our imagination of how and if we could pull that off. [laugh] You know, it always felt like a challenge, like going back years here at Marvel. And we hit on an idea, and we think we had an idea that we were excited about. And I don’t wanna say too much here in this forum, but I think the time was right to bring MODOK to the big screen, finally.”
About Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.
The film is directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a. and Stephen Broussard, p.g.a.,
Joining the cast is Jonathan Majors as Kang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O’Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as Quaz and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar.
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters on February 17, 2023.
