Written By Kieran Bugg
M.O.D.O.K.’s controversial MCU debut has been addressed by Ant-Man trilogy director Peyton Reed.
Throughout the past fifteen years, the MCU has dealt with it’s fair share of controversy and backlash from comic fans. Most of which stems from changing elements about certain storylines and characters from the original comics.
The most infamous being the bizarre villain twist from 2013’s Iron Man 3. For the entirety of the movie’s marketing, legendary actor Ben Kingsley was seen as the sequel’s main antagonist.
However this wasn’t the case as it was later revealed that Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian was actually the true mastermind. It turns out that Kingsley’s character was nothing more than a scapegoat posing as Tony Stark’s arch nemesis.
Nonetheless, this controversy was fortunately rectified eight years later in 2021’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings. With the recent release of Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, a new controversy has emerged surrounding another classic Marvel supervillain.
M.O.D.O.K.
M.O.D.O.K. Controversy Addressed By Peyton Reed
Image: Marvel Comics
For years now, it’s been debated whether or not the hideous villain could be adapted into a live-action MCU flick. In addition, the bizarre villain was immediately revealed to be a familiar but this time bigger face from Scott’s past.
Darren Cross A.K.A. Yellowjacket, the main villain from the first Ant-Man movie. Surviving his gruesome defeat, Cross became the MCU’s version of the goofy looking megalomaniac.
This drastic change from the comics unsurprisingly led to backlash from certain fans. Responding to this, director Peyton Reed made this statement during a recent interview:
“That visual effects shot where we show it was something that struck us as very funny, this quick version and sort of grotesque, and I remember with every visual effect shot in the movie, you get the shot back from the vendor and you analyze it and give notes.”
Furthermore, part of the controversy also stems from a brief glimpse of nudity from the movie. While Cross is explaining his origin, we see his mutilated body being prepared for the character’s iconic Doomsday Chair.
Moreover, we see his tiny posterior for a split second. This was obviously incorporated for comedic purposes. Explaining this decision, Reed further said:
“I’m gonna admit to you here in front of everybody that one of my notes in that shot was like, ‘Oh, that’s really great, but you need to see a little bit more of his butt crack in this,’ that was an actual note given that everyone agreed with in the room and what you see in the movie is where we landed. So, I appreciate you asking about that.”
M.O.D.O.K. Controversy Addressed By Peyton Reed
Image: Hulu
It’s no secret that this take on the odd looking character is divisive. Nevertheless Corey Stoll once again delivered a stand-out performance as M.O.D.O.K. in this sequel.
No matter how may you feel, it’s still amazing to have M.O.D.O.K. finally appear in the MCU.