Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania introduced a few newcomers to the MCU, including MODOK, whose final design shocked many Marvel fans. However, the artists behind MODOK's designs experimented before settling on the film’s version.
Since its release, Ant-Man 3 has received several negative reviews, tying for worst among all the Marvel Studios films. Overall, the financial outcome for the movie is not looking much better, as it’s still short of cracking the $500 million mark at the box office, let alone beating its predecessor, Ant-Man and the Wasp. One of the main criticisms hurled towards the movie is the characterization of MODOK as comic relief, with the reveal of Corey Stoll's deformed face being a letdown for many.
Nevertheless, Marvel artist Aleksi Briclot claimed on Instagram (@aleksibriclot) that wasn’t always the case. He admits MODOK's design was challenging from the start since he had to keep a remnant of Stoll's likeness so the movie could point back to Ant-Man's first villain, Darren Cross. In the first in a series of the concept artwork he’s been sharing, Briclot's Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing looks far closer to Marvel's Avengers video game, although with an even more twisted image of Stoll's face underneath.
The post got a lot of comments from users who expressed their preference for this design over Ant-Man 3's MODOK. Some even referred to the memes comparing Stoll's messed-up face to George Lopez in 2005’s The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Briclot has since uploaded two more alternate concepts for MODOK that come closer to his comic book appearances, albeit both featuring a less “realistic” art style that would have possibly been harder to pull off in the MCU.
Since Ant-Man 3 was released, MODOK has become one of the most talked about parts of the film for all the wrong reasons, and even some of Marvel Studios' special effects supervisors have stated Stoll's character took a lot of work. The disappointment over MODOK's look also comes at a time when overworked VFX studios have become a topic of conversation surrounding Marvel Studios.
Admittedly, MODOK was always going to be a challenging character to get right in live action, yet from some of this early work, few fans would argue that Marvel Studios made the right decision.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is currently available in theaters.
Source: Aleksi Briclot | Instagram