Marvel revealed at Comic-Con 2022 that Ant-Man & and the Wasp: Quantumania will be the first live-action appearance of MODOK in the MCU. The film will introduce the big villain of the MCU’s Phase 4-6, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), after a variant of kang in the season 1 finale of Loki. Panel participants marvel studios in Hall H were treated to exclusive footage and a Q&A with the director Peyton Reed and the stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Kathryn Newton.
The panel Ant Man 3 also shed light on the current situation of Scott Lang, who traded his superhero suit for a book publishing deal, relying on the craze for Ant Man in Mrs.Marvel. The exclusive images shown to the participants included the confrontation ofAnt Man with Kang, confirmation of the guest role of Bill Murray and a brief overview of the villain MODOK. It remains to be seen how and why MODOK fits into the plot of Quantumania, given thatit centers on Kang and the Multiverse Saga.
MODOK is the mutant form of George Tartleton, a technician who works for the weapons company Advanced Idea Mechanics. Outside of an animated sitcom with Patton Oswalt in the role and an alternate version of MODOK appeared in Agents of SHIELD, it will be the first time that MODOK integrate the MCU. It is not yet known who will play the character in Ant Man 3speculation that it is jim carrey having been immediately extinguished by the actor’s recent retirement. Following the trailer, rumors that Bill Murray can play the role of Tartleton/MODOK are going well. The most important question, in light of the announcement of the multiverse sagais how MODOK fits into the story ofAnt-Man and Kang the Conqueror who promises to draw all the spotlight on him.
Two big bad guys, a good idea?
MODOK and Kang the Conqueror © Marvel Studios
Multiple villains can be a tricky prospect for superhero movies, Spider Man 3 of Sat Raimi being considered a typical example. Two classic villains in Quantumania could work well. However, two villains of the stature of MODOK and of Kang the Conqueror risk unbalancing the film and diverting attention from setting up the Multiverse Saga. To the question of how kang and MODOK can coexist in the film resides in the Quantum Realm, in which much ofAnt Man 3 is supposed to take place. Rather than competing for screen time, MODOK could rather prepare the ground for the final entry of kang in the MCU.
In the comics, Advanced Idea Mechanics created the Cosmic Cube original, or as it’s called in the MCU: the Tesseract. It is therefore not very risky to advance on the idea that society will experience the quantum realm in Ant Man 3. AIM founder Aldrich Killian was killed at the end ofIron Man 3and the resulting power vacuum may have led to a hostile takeover of George Tartleton, or by whoever will be the MODOK from Marvel Cinematic Universe. Manipulation of the quantum realm by MODOK and AIM could trigger phase 5 of the MCU putting Scott Lang in contact with Kang the Conqueror. Whatever the role of MODOK in Ant Man 3 and who was cast as the mental organism designed only to kill will likely be revealed in trailers and promotional images before the film’s release in February 2023. However, it’s safe to say that such an iconic character won’t appear in the new Ant-Man movie without a more than valid reason.
