Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the third Scott Lang-led movie and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first Phase 5 title, is pledging “irreversible changes” to the MCU and one heck of a time with a fully-loaded roster of big-name characters.

All that’s confirmed about the movie is that it’s a new kind of action-packed adventure, starring the likes of Paul Rudd as the title character, Evangeline Lilly as the other title character, Jonathan Majors (Loki), Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, Michael Douglas as Hank Pym, Michael Peña as Luis, Kathryn Newton as the new Cassie, Randall Park returning for his fan-favorite character Jimmy Woo, and finally Bill Murray as a mysterious villain named Krylar.

Now, it has been reported that official Marvel Cinematic Universe merchandise is premiering the freshly minted and newly designed villain MODOK. With a history spanning over various comics and an uncertain live-action future, there’s a lot of intrigue surrounding what plans the MCU has for this character in Ant-Man 3. Who is this MODOK? What do we need to know about him before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters?

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Will Shake Things Up in the MCU

     Marvel Studios

Ant-Man 3 will see a significant revamp of Marvel, as it’s the movie kicking off the franchise’s Phase 5. Producers are making big promises about what we will see play out on the screen for new, old characters. According to Kevin Feige, it’s a big team-up movie and will lead directly into Marvel’s Secret Wars. Feige and the movie’s director, Peyton Reed, ensure fans that Quantumania will permanently change the MCU, sending fans nearly into a frenzy of anticipation.

San Diego Comic-Con attendees have already been privileged to see the film’s trailer, among other first-looks for almost innumerable upcoming projects. Still, the information so far available to us is that Scott Land will be flung into a world that’s a kind of combination of the quantum realm and the multiverse, where he will come across wacky science and a collision of various realities and ideations.

The film’s primary antagonist will apparently be Kang the Conquerer, who was first introduced at length in the first season of Loki last year on Disney+. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Kang’s motivations now that Loki and Sylvie have broken down the boundaries between the infinite multiverses with their very literally self-absorbed whirlwind romance. And the question remains of what in the world Kang wants with Scott Lang and his team of quantum scientists and engineers.

The movie is shaping up to be a wild and different kind of ride, hopefully, one that stands apart from previous Marvel projects and gives us new themes and ideas to get excited about.

Who is MODOK in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania?

     Marvel Comics

In all this recurring and new drama, who is MODOK? His live-action debut in the MCU franchise has been rumored for some time, and it seems now it is finally almost upon us. At 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con and D23 expo, his introduction has already been witnessed, but the rest of us can probably look forward to this moment when the trailer is released to the public.

However, thanks to Twitter user Chuck the Conquerer, we have a visual on a Marvel tee with the character featured in etched gold and red. A gremlin-looking figure, MODOK has a legacy that we can learn more about to get excited to see on the big screen.

The leaked design shows the character in his suit of armor, and there’s a rendition of him in human form on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. But there is one report that the character of Daren Cross (played by Corey Stoll) will turn into the creature MODOK after being sent to the quantum realm at the end of the first Ant-Man. He will develop the technology behind the suit we see on the t-shirt.

MODOK in his original comic book form, however, was George Tarleton, a formerly disgruntled employee at AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) turned criminal mastermind, who was cruelly experimented on and turned into the creature inside a life support system with advanced mental powers against his will. He becomes a kind of mad scientist-creature-machine and a scourge for many of the Avengers. However, how Quantumania will introduce him remains unknown, but it’s still exciting that we get to see this interesting character with a lot of potential explored in the forthcoming movie.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will hit theaters on February 17th, 2023, and we can expect the long-awaited trailer to debut within the next couple of months! We look forward to seeing what’s in store for us, both in the movie and with MODOK!