With the Marvel Cinematic Universe constantly growing and expanding in the character department, there are still characters that have yet to appear in the universe. However, it’s easier said than done with some of the characters within the Marvel Universe itself. Amongst these characters is M.O.D.O.K., possibly one of the ugliest motherf&^kers you’ll ever see in a comic book.
M.O.D.O.K. is, regardless, one of the many characters that fans wish to see and some of the people at Marvel have taken an interest in. More specifically the scribes of Marvel’s latest solo-hero film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have talked about the appearance of M.O.D.O.K. in the cinematic universe a few times.
“I don’t know if there’s anybody that we had in the wings that we couldn’t pull off. There are people that I’m always wanting to bring in. I want to put Modok into something, but you can’t just drop a giant floating head in! It’s not like “Oh, we have to go talk to this guy – there’s something I should tell you about him first…” [laughs]. Suddenly the whole movie needs to take on that structure in order to accommodate him. I never win that fight!”
With that being stated, even the scribes for one of the most highly-praised Marvel films of all time have brought up how absurd and ridiculous M.O.D.O.K. would look on-screen. With the chances of M.O.D.O.K. making an appearance in the cinematic universe or even
Phase Three at a low, I have thought of a solution that could take care of their worries. First, let’s take a look at M.O.D.O.K.’s origin.
Scientists at Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) created M.O.D.O.K. to analyze and probe the cosmic cube and to improve the organization's productivity in its scientific endeavors, while still being subservient to the higher echelons of the organization. To that end they mutagenically altered one of their technicians of average intelligence, George Tarleton, into the super intelligent being, MODOC (Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing). These scientists unwisely did not take into consideration the theory that superior ability naturally leads to superior ambition.
It did not take long for M.O.D.O.C. to turn on his former masters and overthrow AIM. He adopted the new acronym for his title: M.O.D.O.K. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) at this time as he was more of a ruthless killer than a bean counter in his own estimation. M.O.D.O.K. and AIM frequently came into conflict with the Avengers and many other superheroes.
Since this is the continuity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe we are talking about here, we cannot expect a perfect adaptation of his origin from the Earth-616 continuity, therefore, a slightly new origin is needed.
That being said, I’d say there are three candidates for this character. These choices are heavily influenced by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s decisions to go far, out, and beyond with their characters. These candidates are:
George Tarleton, Aldrich Killian, or Abraham Erskine; each character has their benefit.
George Tarleton can be M.O.D.O.K. as he was in the comics, Aldrich Killian’s can have his conscious and/or intelligence (backed up prior to the final battle of Iron Man 3) uploaded into a surrogate body and so can Abraham Erskine, who I think has the most benefits, being his relationships with HYDRA and how it could tie with AIM and Steve Rogers’ past. It would make sense for HYDRA/AIM to do such a thing because of their past projects/initiatives e.g. The Winter Soldier and Arnim Zola.
Speaking of Arnim Zola, his appearance in
Captain America: The Winter Soldier was done nearly flawlessly in such a universe. And speaking of Arnim Zola’s appearance, it’s time to start talking M.O.D.O.K.’s.
Well, for one thing, forget having flesh as an exterior appearance at all. The entire area of flesh in his design should be a 3D hologram with facial features, while the entire non-organic part (surrogate body) of his appearance will remain the same and project it within the part his face usually lies. You can think of it how the holograms of the head The Tinkerer/Phineas Mason looked in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
That basically wraps up all I have to say about bringing M.O.D.O.K. into the cinematic universe. Hopefully, the folks at Marvel will take a look at this and gain some inspiration for M.O.D.O.K. from this.
UPDATE: After more pondering over the many other benefits of having one of the three candidates as M.O.D.O.K., I have thought of another way to adapt M.O.D.O.K.'s physical form.
Aldrich Killian was listed among those who I think would be a great choice for the killing/computing machine. So, what would be the other option of making him M.O.D.O.K.? In the events of Iron Man 3, Killian was killed by Pepper Potts on the Norco, but what if, his head was recovered? When his head is recovered, I feel as though it should be put in a surrogate container/body almost as seen in the concept art from
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in which Norman Osborn's head is preserved in some cage/container. The only change I'd make to this would have the head sticking a bit out of the surrogate body i.e. how it is in the comics.
In terms of mobile movement, I'd like for it to be in cahoots with how
The Monitor floats around in the
Halo franchise with the surrogate body being similar in shape.