M.O.D.O.K. almost appeared in 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' before the animated series was planned
Marvel has a number of crazy villains in their comics catalog, many of whom are just now gaining attention among the mainstream audience. One of those iconic comic villains, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing (or M.O.D.O.K for short), will soon be starring in his own animated series in Hulu. But if 'Avengers: Endgame' co-writer Christopher Markus had his way, M.O.D.O.K. would have become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe a long time ago.
“I will win you over to Peter Dinklage as M.O.D.O.K.," Markus said in a 2011 interview where he suggested that M.O.D.O.K. could be the main villain for 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. "If he came around the corner and you saw him floating there you would be terrified. It would be amazing," he added.
Unfortunately, that plan had to be dropped because not everyone at Marvel was on board with the idea. "I love M.O.D.O.K. and I think you could make a terrifying movie with M.O.D.O.K. but nobody seems to be on my side at the momentum,” Markus admitted in that same interview.
Since then, Dinklage has appeared as Eitri the Dwarf in 'Avengers: Infinity War' and M.O.D.O.K. has been featured as an evolved form of 'Iron Man 3' villain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) in that movie's tie-in game. But that doesn't mean Markus has given up on having the maniacal genius appear in the MCU just yet.
"I always go back to the guy I always want to see on screen, which is M.O.D.O.K.," Markus told CinemaBlend in October 2019. "Also, part of me… it’s hard to say if he was officially destroyed, I wouldn’t mind seeing a third incarnation of Zola. Now in a robotic body. We got him from human to face on screen, I’d like him to get mobile now. I can’t say that’s going to happen, but it’d be fun."
According to the official synopsis for the animated series, 'Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.', the megalomaniacal supervillain, M.O.D.O.K. (Patton Oswalt), has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization A.I.M. into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is set to confront his greatest challenge yet: a midlife crisis!
It's not clear yet whether the show will officially be a part of the MCU but it could hopefully still help raise the character's profile enough for him to have an appearance in live-action.
'Marvel's M.O.D.O.K.' is expected to arrive on Hulu sometime in 2020.