We've known for a while now that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would introduce a version of megalomaniacal comic book villain M.O.D.O.K., but the character's identity and how he factors into the plot may still be considered a spoiler, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, best not to read on.
Spoilers follow!
Scott Lang and his allies encounter the "Mental Organism Designed Only For Killing" ("that's really M.O.D.O.F.K.") when they arrive in the Quantum Realm and land on Kang's radar. It's not long before he unmasks and reveals himself to be the first Ant-Man's villain, Darren Cross, who somehow survived as a... giant head with baby arms and legs.
Kang discovered Cross after he was banished to the Quantum Realm, kitted him out with tech, and made him his henchman. Towards the end of the film, Cassie (Kathryn Newton) tells Darren to stop being a dick, so he does (if only she'd said that to Kang, eh?), and sacrifices himself to defeat his master and save the day.
He dies in comedic fashion, thanking Scott for allowing him to go out as an Avenger.
M.O.D.O.K. will almost certainly end up being one of the most divisive aspects of an already highly divisive movie. Actor Corey Stoll's massive CG face looks ridiculous, which might well be the point, but still more than a little distracting. The VFX are... questionable, and while he does resemble his comic book counterpart, we can see many citing this as a prime example of something from the page not translating very well to the screen.
Some fans are also sure to take issue with how the villain is utilized, and we'll be very interested to see how those unfamiliar with the character react to this utterly bizarre creation!
To be fair, very few of the jokes land in Quantumania, and ol' Darren is good for at least a chuckle or two. But again, your mileage may vary in that regard.
Could we see M.O.D.O.K. again? He certainly appears to perish, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be brought back if Marvel Studios decided fans wanted more of him. The character does have potential (Hulu's animated series was a riot despite only running for a single season), so we'll just have to wait and see how audiences respond.
What did you guys make of M.O.D.O.K. in Ant-Man 3? Drop us a comment down below.