Warning: This article contains spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Marvel fans have a lot of problems with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but one you’ll see again and again online is criticism over how the movie handled its iconic comic book villain. No, not Kang, as everyone’s in agreement Jonathan Major’s Conqueror is the film’s one big win (although we could’ve done without the whole ant ending), but M.O.D.O.K. For some reason, everyone seems shocked that Marvel’s answer to Humpty Dumpty was used as comic relief.
Honestly, the greatest crime in Quantumania‘s depiction of M.O.D.O.K. is not that he’s treated like a joke or that he’s controversially redeemed by the movie’s final act, it’s that he dies. Darren “Not a Dick” Cross’ sacrifice, to aid the Ant-Man family in defeating Kang, is one of the film’s weirdest and most memorable moments, coming across as a kind of parody of Iron Man’s Avengers: Endgame ending, and yet the future of the MCU would’ve been much stronger if it had been removed.
Essentially, by killing off M.O.D.O.K. within his first appearance, the franchise has robbed Thunderbolts of what would’ve been the perfect addition to its ensemble cast of anti-heroes and villains. From the off, fans have been underwhelmed by the roster of the Thunderbolts team, given that it’s made up of nothing but super-soldiers, especially if rumors of Ghost’s exit are true. After his Ant-Man 3 change of heart, M.O.D.O.K. could have been a genius left-field addition to the group.
It’s hard to get more different from carbon copy super-soldiers than M.O.D.O.K., and it would’ve been hilarious to see the bulbous-headed henchman travel outside of the Quantum Realm to interact with the regular Marvel universe — imagine what the likes of Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes would make of such a bizarre character? To appease those that didn’t like his redemption, his change of heart also could’ve been undone. Perhaps M.O.D.O.K. could’ve gone rogue and eventually returned at some point as the new head of A.I.M., as per the comics?
Sadly, all this is purely academic, as M.O.D.O.K.’s MCU adventure looks to be over as soon as it’s begun. Well, at least the Corey Stoll version. Who knows, maybe we’ll get the Patton Oswalt incarnation from the Hulu animated series crossing over into live-action in Avengers: Secret Wars. For now, though, it’s a shame the Mechanized Organism’s entrance was designed only to kill him off.