Evidence For MODOK’s MCU Arrival:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. just ended yesterday and it left every ardent fan of the show extremely satisfied. This is a show that managed to keep things great, dramatic, unique & fresh with every one of its seasons. Despite not getting recognition from the main MCU timeline, the series still managed to keep its fanbase hooked for 7 whole seasons. That’s because it followed a dynamic story which included elements that on some instances were even crazier than the films. The show got the opportunity to mostly use B-C list Marvel characters, but apparently, there were plans to use a big villain like MODOK.
Ghost Rider was the biggest and the most familiar character that this series got to use. As far as the villains are concerned, most of them wouldn’t be known to people who haven’t read the comics. But, MODOK is a character that people would actually be familiar of. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to use the character but weren’t given the green light by Marvel.
For those of you who are still 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.
His addition to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would’ve added a whole new layer to the series as it could have explored Advanced Idea Mechanics properly. During a recent interview with The AV Club, co-showrunner Jeffrey Bell revealed how he & other creatives had plans to use MODOK if Marvel allowed them to. He said:
“We had a lot of ideas where we were—and I’ll say this, I don’t care—we were given the green light originally to use certain characters from Marvel, and started to break story based on those characters—[Coughs.] MODOK—and then they retracted it. So there were a bunch of things that were going to get a little batsh*t crazy that were above our pay grade, in terms of the toys we were allowed to play with.”
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Co-showrunner and co-creator Jed Whedon added:
“And some of our coolest characters, I’ll say, were adjusted off of those ideas.”
Even though Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has never really disappointed us with the way it has handled Marvel characters, we’re still glad that MODOK wasn’t used in the series. Maybe they would’ve done a good job, but it is likely that they would’ve had to compromise on the CGI. Furthermore, if Marvel didn’t allow the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. creatives to use MODOK, it means that they have plans to use the character in the main MCU timeline.
We’ve covered theories in the past stating that MODOK will be the villain of Ant-Man and the Wasp 3. He has been lurking in the shadows just like the Leader, the Mandarin, Arnim Zola, & possibly even Ultron. In fact, we’ve even stated a theory that Marvel might actually turn Arnim Zola into MODOK. We’ll have to wait and see if this turns out to be true. But we’re certain that we’d see MODOK very soon because his situation is similar to Ghost Rider. Gabriel Luna’s Ghost Rider series was supposed to arrive on Hulu this year, but Marvel had it cancelled. That’s because Ghost Rider will appear in the main MCU timeline in Phase 4 or Phase 5. Let’s see how Marvel handles MODOK and Ghost Rider.
Here’s the updated Phase 4 movie schedule of MCU – Black Widow on November 6, 2020, The Eternals on February 12, 2021, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on May 7, 2021, Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 on December 17, 2021, Thor: Love and Thunder on February 11, 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on March 25, 2022, Black Panther II on May 6, 2022, and Captain Marvel 2 on July 8, 2022. As far as the TV shows are concerned, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier & WandaVision are supposed to hit Disney+ later this year, Loki, What if…? & Hawkeye will arrive next year, and Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight & She-Hulk will possibly arrive in 2022.
