#mcu modok

*SPOILERS FOR ANT-MAN 3*

Let's be real here. MODOK wasn't gonna work in live action. At least, not in CGI. Cause dear lord, we laughed so hard when he was revealed without his mask on. My best friend said that he looked like Humpty Dumpty! I can't unsee that!😆 Like, MODOK in the Marvel's Avengers game was done better than the MCU version.

But, despite how goofy he looked, I hate that MODOK was Darren Cross from the first Ant-Man movie. He could've just died in that movie as Yellowjacket, but instead the Quantumania had him be found by Kang and remade him to be MODOK when he was all mangled up. Which is bullcrap cause it's supposed to be George Tarleton, leader of AIM(which I don't even know if t he MCU ever touched upon that criminal orginization). I don't know why this decision was made, nor do I know why he was even in this movie, cause you can replace him with someone else and there'd be no difference.

MODOK can be a threat in the comics and in some animated shows, despite how he looks. Here, he's just a minion and at times a punching bag and you can't really take him seriously, especially with his stretched out CGI'd face.

MODOK's butt.....why did that have to be shown? That didn't need to be seen.

Why does he keep taking his mask off nearly every time he's on screen?! He looked more menacing with it on than without it. Hell his voice module sounded more serious than his normal voice. Seriously, I keep laughing at how goofy he looks with that face.

In the movie, MODOK has a really bad redemption because Cassie told him to stop being a dick....I'm not kidding, that's how he's convinced to betray Kang. By not being a dick. 😆 I get that the movie was trying to have him be Darren again, his own person and not be a servant to a conqueror who didn't treat him well, but it could've been written better than "Don't be a dick, Darren!"

MODOK dies....yep. And, it's really really awkward. Cause he was saying stuff like he saw Scott as a brother to him and that he'll die as an Avenger before he died. And Scott, Hank, and Hope had to go along with it cause I think they feel sorry for them? It was really weird. Like, no way in hell that those things are true, especially all things he did before. Darren was gonna sell the Yellowjacket and the Ant-Man suits to Hydra and the Ten Rings, and he threatened to kill Cassie, Paxton (whose not in this movie for some reason), and other innocent people before he became MODOK. Hell, he tried to kill Cassie and Hank in this movie as well as helping Kang kill even more people in the Quantum realm! Why the hell would I feel sad for him dying when his redemption was poorly executed? Sorry, but I wasn't sad that he died.

MODOK Reading Order: George Tarleton (1967 – Present)

The Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing – aka MODOK – has been a thorn in the side of the Hulk, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man and more while acting as the head (no pun intended) of Advanced Idea Mechanics. To see just how much choas he causes he to Omniverse Comics Guide for the full reading order

For the latest podcast, video, reading orders, news and reviews head to Omniverse Comics Guide.

Ant Man and the Wasp Movie Marathon 🐜🐝

Ant Man - July 17 2015

Ant Man and the Wasp - July 6 2018

Ant Man and the Wasp Quatumania -

...Really?

This one?

THIS was the worst Marvel movie yet?

The one that was so insultingly bad that it caused people to throw fits on Twitter and scream off the top of their lungs about how Marvel is dead?

...Well, maybe I just have bad tastes, because I had fun.

Now, that does NOT mean I think this movie is the best Marvel has or that I don’t understand why people might not get into it.

The pacing is NOT that great. We spend, like, fifteen minutes on Earth before it’s RIGHT into the Quantum Realm. This is the problem that most MCU movies and shows have nowadays where there’s never enough time to really DIVE DEEP into the lives of the characters and what they’ve been up to before getting right into the action. Now, I don’t usually mind it sometimes, like with Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, or Moon Knight, but I WOULD love some time to slow down. Especially in this case because once the adventure starts, we have to fly by so much because there’s, oddly enough, not enough time to get through it all. Things like Janet’s life, Scott and Cassie’s relationship, and even Kang’s history has to be sped along to reach that two hour mark. It’s weird, a common complaint fans have is that the MCU shows have too much fluff amongst the interesting stuff where it feels like their movies don’t have enough.

As for the characters...they could have been handled better. Specifically Cassie who has very little character to her. They tried, building up how she’s this super smart person who wants to help a lot of people, but her performance and direction is NOT that great. It really hurts a lot of what COULD have been a good character if she just...did a better job? Or the director did a better job? I don’t know who’s at fault her, but it’s definitely SOMEONE.

And then there’s the Pyms, who get sidelined HARD in this. Janet at least has a few stuff to do and Hank at least comes back with a pretty cool “turn your brain off” moment, but despite this movie having Ant-Man AND THE WASP in the title, Wasp does so little in this. Granted, it means there’s less Evangeline Lily, but it’s still weird how little of a part she plays in this one. You can...kind of write her out and little would change, which is...crazy to me.

Then there’s the usual stuff people are getting sick of. The jokes...aren’t the best. I laughed at a few of them, but this is a movie that’s trying to be an epic superhero movie with Ant-Man’s level of humor and absurdity. It causes this sort of battle between two tones, fighting for dominance of what kind of movie this should be, and it hurts the film considerably.

As for the CGI...it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, you have these pretty interesting looking characters and a world that leaves your mouth agape as you’re seeing it all...and then you have MODOK...Who looks so bad that whenever we see his face, I had to restrain myself from laughing in theaters. But honest to goodness, it’s just MODOK and a handful of scenes that don’t look that great. There’s honestly a few pretty amazing usage of special effects that really looked cool to see more times than not for me.

And since we’re getting into the good stuff, let’s talk about what actually works in this movie.

Because the Quantum Realm look amazing. Not perfect ALL the time, but there’s still some pretty cool stuff.

Kang, The Conqueror makes this worth watching. Jonathon Majors does a FANTASTIC performance, even if this wasn’t the best villain out there. He’s still threatening a lot of the time and there are great scenes that got my heart pumping due to how intense he makes them. Even if it does hurt a bit that he was having trouble fighting ANT-MAN of all people, the movie also makes it clear that he’s a bit of a reject, so I guess it makes a little sense. And, not to give away spoilers, but it’s clear that Jonathon Majors is going to have a lot of work cut out for him in the future.

As for Ant-Man...I still love him. He’s one of my favorite characters in the MCU because of how much of a normal guy he is, and that’s more or less the same here. The funniest jokes involve him in some way, and I’m giving credit to Paul Rudd for that. The dude can be pretty funny.

With that said, this is the movie that tries its best to make Ant-Man serious and...they certainly try. Now, in some cases it works, but there’s scenes, specifically in the climax, where all he does is say corny and cliche dialogue all in the attempt to make himself sound badass. I want to get into it, but Ant-Man really does work best when he’s just...a dude. Still, I’m grateful for the effort.

Finally, there’s MODOK...Who--And I’m not pulling any legs here--is my favorite character in the movie. He looks dumb as SHIT, but I adore how deranged and detached from reality he acts, especially near the end. He cracks me up so much that it reminds me that it reminds me that, “Yeah, this movie’s fun.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is not that great of a film. I can easily see people not getting into it, but for me, it’s a fun watch. And it’s nowhere NEAR the worst Marvel movie. Have you seen Morbius, Fant4stic, or Howard the Duck? I haven’t. They looks so awful that I REFUSE to see it.

Hell, this isn’t even the worst thing in the MCU. Have you seen Inhumans? Because I have. It’s so awful that I don’t EVER want to see it again. But with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania...I just might.

Consider this one a guilty pleasure for me because while it’s not that great, it’s nowhere near as bad either.