Ant-Man 3's Corey Stoll Burst Out Laughing When He First Saw Himself As MODOK
When Scott "Ant-Man" Lang (Paul Rudd) made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut via his self-titled 2015 movie, the jovial ex-thief had his work cut out for him. While figuring out the mechanics of his size-manipulating suit, he found himself up against Darren Cross (Corey Stoll): the ruthless protégé of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), who sought to use Pym Particles — which power the Ant-Man suit and other pieces of technology — for his own nefarious purposes. Thankfully, Lang was able to stop him, with Cross' Yellowjacket suit malfunctioning and seemingly crushing him as it shrunk to a microscopic size.
However, it turns out that Cross didn't meet his end in "Ant-Man." His busted suit only severely deformed him and sent him to the Quantum Realm, where he was discovered and rehabilitated by Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). In the process, he shed the identity of Darren Cross to become MODOK (Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing). That meant for the entirety of 2023's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Stoll basically had to play a comically large head with little limbs in a gold and purple hoverchair.
The MCU's take on MODOK has become an internet sensation since "Quantumania" released, with fans the world over having a good laugh over his sheer goofiness. As it turns out, when he first saw the character's design, Corey Stoll couldn't help but laugh too.
Stoll was a bit taken aback by MODOK at first
Shortly after the theatrical debut of "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," Corey Stoll spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about his surprise return to the MCU fold. In doing so, he discussed Darren Cross' transformation into MODOK and what his initial thoughts were concerning the character's design. "I laughed hysterically, but it's also deeply disturbing," he said, adding with a laugh, "If you ever get the chance to see your face warped and placed inside a little rocket wheelchair, you'll know how I feel."
In addition to the look of MODOK being quite unusual, Stoll notes that the method of performing the character was equally strange. As he recalls, it was a performance capture situation, meaning that he filmed all of his scenes before principal photography even began. It turned out to be quite a freeing experience in the end as well. "We went through all of my scenes, and they could throw out some alternate lines or change things around. We could do the scene in a million ways without having to wait for camera and lights or anything," he said.
"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is currently in theaters, so if you have any desire to see Corey Stoll's MODOK — the only thing fans feel the movie gets right — on the big screen, now is the time to take a trip to your local cinema.