Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is released this week, but it isn’t Paul Rudd who’s the biggest draw for many social media users in the new Marvel movie.
It’s not even Jonathan Majors as his adversary Kang the Conqueror that’s getting people talking – in fact, it’s leaked imagery of the villain MODOK.
MODOK is one of the strangest characters in the Marvel universe, and is identified as having a giant head with tiny arms. He has a bizarre name to match, too, going by the title 'Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing'.
According to Marvel’s official website, MODOK is “the brainchild of Advanced Idea Mechanics” and has “long terrorised Marvel heroes with his computer-like mind and psionic powers”.
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“Thanks to the A.I.M. Alteration Chamber, the very average human known as George Tarleton became one of the most mentally powerful beings on the planet! The process granted him a computer-like brain that could process and store data at lightning speed.
“He was also granted psychic and psionic abilities that allow him to control individuals or use force blasts in both offensive and defensive applications,” they state.
While the trailers for the film haven’t given us a full look at MODOK just yet, images of the character have leaked online and it’s even stranger than some were expecting.
The character was always going to look a little goofy given the look of the villain in the comics, but nothing could have prepared fans for the images doing the rounds on social media.
\u201cThis is hilariously bad LMFAOOO\u201d— Nicholas (@Nicholas) 1676410735
Plenty were in disbelief after seeing the character for the first time - but others defended the CGI, saying that the character was always going to look very strange indeed.
\u201cModok looks great \ud83d\ude02 #AntManandtheWaspQuantumania\u201d— Blakesworld (@Blakesworld) 1676542488
\u201c@NicholasPascar5 These mfs when MODOK looks goofy and silly\u201d— Nicholas (@Nicholas) 1676410735
\u201cmodok is one of those characters i feel like should have never been brought into live action because \n\u201d— D\u0399\u039cI (@D\u0399\u039cI) 1676500784
\u201c#Kang when MODOK first appeared in the Quantum Realm:\u201d— CAPTAIN_117 (@CAPTAIN_117) 1675745072
\u201cCome on guys MODOK seriously doesn\u2019t look that bad\u201d— Prime (@Prime) 1676415905
\u201cEveryone in my theatre was laughing in stitches each time MODOK was on screen.\u201d— LJB (@LJB) 1676458161
\u201cMODOK is definitely Comic book accurate #AntManAndTheWaspQuantumania\u201d— \u2764\ufe0fTHE SCARLET RED\u2764\ufe0f (@\u2764\ufe0fTHE SCARLET RED\u2764\ufe0f) 1676419089
\u201cPeople complaining MODOK looks like a weird uncanny giant head\u2026\u201d— Maxebon (@Maxebon) 1676442530
\u201cthey showing MODOK ass\u201d— anish (@anish) 1676516840
\u201cAre people really complaining that MODOK looks stupid?\n\nIt's fucking MODOK! Look at him!\u201d— Sonya the Moo! \ud83d\udc2e \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Sonya the Moo! \ud83d\udc2e \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1676541761
\u201cYeah, I stand by my opinion. modok isnanhard sell in live action and normies are gonna laugh him out out the movies\u201d— John A. Douglas - The ORC Warlord of EPIC FANTASY (@John A. Douglas - The ORC Warlord of EPIC FANTASY) 1676432828
\u201cI'm sorry, but getting mad about MCU MODOK of all things just seems like such a waste of energy\u201d— Smv (@Smv) 1676483622
With the film out this week, a lot of people are going to get to know MODOK a whole lot better.
In her three-star review for The Independent, Clarisse Loughrey singled out Majors’ performance as Quantumania’s biggest draw. “Majors has pulled off the seemingly impossible,” she wrote. “It’s as if he’s forced Marvel to orbit around the force of his own charisma.”
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is out in cinemas from 17 February.
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