Ant-Man 3 is yet another sequel that has been confirmed to arrive in the distant future. Several reports have confirmed that it will go under production by mid-2021. That could allow it a late 2022 release date, but considering that there are no other slots available in the year, and Marvel is already releasing 4 MCU movies in the year, we reckon that the Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel will arrive in early 2023, i.e. on February 17, 2023. This is going to be a very interesting film because not only will it set up the Young Avengers project, but it will also introduce one of the most interesting comic book villains, MODOK.
Several rumors have suggested that MODOK will be the villain that Ant-Man and the Wasp, and perhaps even Captain America: Civil War was setting us up for. For those of you who are not aware, George Tarleton aka MODOK (Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) is the head of AIM in the comics. But mostly, people are familiar with him as a massive floating head on a chair that hovers all around. AIM was the organization that was led by Aldrich Killian in the MCU, and it may be possible that George Tarleton took the company into a new direction after Killian and his operations were killed. But we’ve got an amazing theory which suggests a change in the backstory of MODOK.
Erik Voss from New Rockstars has come up with the theory, stating that the Captain America villain, Arnim Zola could actually turn into MODOK in the MCU. If you remember, Arnim Zola was the one who forwarded Hydra’s agendas after World War II ended. He was hired by S.H.I.E.L.D., and he continued with Hydra’s business, allowing the evil organization to infiltrate and take over S.H.I.E.L.D. in the modern day. Even though his body perished, Zola was able to preserve his consciousness, as he turned into an AI. Just because the secret lab of Zola was destroyed in The Winter Soldier doesn’t mean he was fully destroyed. After all, he was supposed to return in the original story of Captain America 3 with his robotic body.
Remember that Brock Rumlow aka Crossbones had some shady boss ordering him around and running his operations? Some bigger villains needed the Bioweapon that Rumlow was ordered to steal in the Civil War. Marvel hasn’t revealed who this villain is, and we have reason to believe that it is Arnim Zola’s AI, since he was already the brains behind HYDRA’s operations in The Winter Soldier as well. But Voss’ theory suggests that Zola had also taken over AIM in the MCU. He has been running it instead of George Tarleton. And just like Brock Rumlow, Zola was also after Hank Pym’s lab as he was probably the one ordering Sonny Burch as well.
We believe that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier will reveal how Zola still exists. The fact that Zola was sneaked into Endgame also suggests that Marvel doesn’t want us to forget about him. And so, the theory further suggests that Zola will go on to become MODOK in Ant-Man, The Wasp & Stature. But there will be a twist. Since Marvel is doing a comic-booky take on MODOK in the Hulu animated series with Patton Oswald, the twist in the MCU will be that the Zola-MODOK combo will have a robotic body like Zola does in the comics.
The MCU always prefers to take a rather realistic approach when it comes to their characters. A giant floating head might not feel as believable, but a robotic body could. Moreover, Marvel is known to mix up villains & change their backstories. They mixed the elements of Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo and turned him into a single villain in Iron Man 2. They could do the same with MODOK and Zola because both these individuals are supposed to be highly intellectual villains and have many similar traits. And on top of that, Toby Jones’ voice would be extremely fitting for MODOK. In the animated series Avengers Assemble, MODOK takes control of the Adaptoid’s body. We’ve already suggested how that could be a direction that Marvel could take. But turning Zola into MODOK and then giving him a robotic body just seems even more fascinating. What say you? Tell us your opinions in the comments down below.
