Peyton Reed had confirmed a while back that M.O.D.O.K. would feature in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Qunatumania. And there were speculations of Corey Stoll reprising his role as Darren Cross. However, it was a surprise when the film’s first trailer featured Stoll taking on the mantle of M.O.D.O.K. in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The character underwent not just an identity change, but quite a few tweaks in design and appearance.
In Quantumania, M.O.D.O.K. features a genetically repurposed body embedded with cybernetics, giving his physicality a blend of the mechanical and elements of biology. And the film notoriously showed M.O.D.O.K. giving moviegoers a glance at his butt in a sequence that explains his transformation from the ruthless criminal conglomerate that went by the name Yellowjacket, into a Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing.
In an interview with ComicBook.com, VFX supervisor Dave Hodgins details how the final cut ended with a rear-end shot of M.O.D.O.K., shifting focus from his giant head.
“They added that montage flashback scene to tell that story between Yellowjacket and M.O.D.O.K. So it just came back into the movie late in the game, and we had much discussion about the M.O.D.O.K. butt.”
Working for Digital Domain, Hodgins looked after the after-effects work on the film, which is when Corey Stoll’s transformation montage came into the final cut after being initially pulled off during the filming. He added,
“[The scene] was essentially always back lit. But ultimately, I think we got more light on his butt than initially intended because he was more supposed to be a silhouette.”
In another interview with CBR, Hodgins stated that though M.O.D.O.K. was a VFX-heavy character, working on his space in the film was relatively smoother as most of his sequences didn’t need any substantial editing and were hardly changed during the post-production.
“I think we were fortunate in that the M.O.D.O.K. never really changed throughout the edit. I mean, shots get trimmed here and there, but his scenes and the scenes we planned for never really changed on that scope of work. It was relatively smooth. We didn’t necessarily have to absorb as many changes as on other films that we’ve worked on. So our scope of work was pretty stable. At least for our delivery, it all went fairly smoothly.”
The scene in question turned into an important one and something more than a rear-end show-off for the character. As the montage continues, Darren narrates how his fight as Yellowjacket in the first movie damaged his body to the core. However, Kang finds him and later rebuilds him into a powerfully weaponized mechanic being. As Kang’s henchman, M.O.D.O.K. runs the former’s murderous operations throughout the quantum realm, controlling all territories and helping Kang gather resources for his vastly expanding kingdom.
M.O.D.O.K. character presence and portrayal have been met with a divisive response from fans and critics alike. While the character’s design and identity change from the comics was received without backlash, his arc wasn’t. Though Stoll’s performance in the role and Reed’s use of the character in his newly built quantum space was visually satisfying, the sudden twist in his arc continues to draw mixed reception.
What do you think about Corey Stoll’s M.O.D.O.K. in the Ant-Man threequel?
