After a dry summer for Marvel fans, Friday’s NYCC Marvel panels are giving fans a first look at Hulu’s two new Marvel series. Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K is one of their new offerings, a unique take on the supervillain who has featured heavily in recent Marvel stories.
The Mobilized Organism Designed Only For Killing (M.O.D.O.K.) will be tackling the struggles of parenthood, the problems of his two children including a teenager who shares his trademark look, and much more.
The panel began with star Patton Oswalt and producer Jordan Blum premiering a look at the series. The short sneak preview shows M.O.D.O.K talking about his taxes in a short little joke about how A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics, an evil organization) is broke. Producer Jason Blum shared that M.O.D.O.K was such a unique character that they wanted to explore more about him. Oswalt and Jordan then discussed what inspired the show, expressing how they both wanted to explore the world outside of the comic book panel pages. They wanted to ask the question “Where does M.O.D.O.K go at night?”
“M.O.D.O.K was very much born out of our love for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s work. We wanted to explore how a giant floating toilet relates to his children and his wife. It’s fun and action-packed, it’s very much a Marvel project, but it’s a show about optimism. Where does he go at night?”
Jordan Blum
Oswalt also talked about Stoopid Buddy, the stop-motion animation studio that will be bringing M.O.D.O.K’s world to life. Blum talked about how their puppets will have real hand-held photography. Their second clip focuses on his home life. With M.O.D.O.K’s wife explaining he could let A.I.M. go and let her become the breadwinner, M.O.D.O.K proclaims he wouldn’t even know who he was. Afterward, they introduced the characters. M.O.D.O.K’s son Lou (Ben Schwartz) who was created in a lab, with Blum calling him “Happy and excited.”
“He unabashedly loves what he loves. And that’s why you’ll root for him.”
Ben Schwartz
Introducing Melissa Fumero as daughter Melissa M.O.D.O.K, both Oswalt and Fumero called her “what M.O.D.O.K would have been like in High School.” Fumero went on to describe Melissa as “A Latina supervillain wanna be.” She has intense control in her school and both Blum and Oswalt call her a “force.”
“She’s truly a testament to how confidence wins over looks at any time.”
Melissa Fumero
They then introduced Jodie (Amy Garcia). “It’s very refreshing to have this woman later in life say ‘this isn’t going to work for me,’ she’s starting to blossom as an independent woman. “
“She’s unlike any animated housewife we’ve ever seen. She’s going on a supervillain journey.”
Amy Garcia
Oswalt teased that they were going to introduce a superhero, and both Blum and Oswalt were stunned by how many characters that they wanted to use. While both were hush-hush, they called themselves incredibly lucky to get to write the characters they’re writing, “We have A-Listers and D-Listers. We’re using them in these big sci-fi stories and mixing in these human relationships.”
“It’s a love letter to those comics that we grew up reading. We pulled from everywhere,” said Blum. Blum let it spill that there’s X-stuff involved, teasing some of the first touches of the X-Men characters in the Marvel universe.
Every actor shared their passion for the project with Schwartz in particular talking about how much he loved comics. The whole cast has an incredible rapport with each other, with everyone incredibly excited about the product. Aimee Garcia talked about how they’re excited to explore “just what these characters do in their off time.”
The cast then took questions, echoing their desire to create something fun and exciting for the fans. Overall this fresh take on one of Marvel’s heroes seems to have invigorated fans around the globe – and we certainly can’t wait to see more!
It looks and sounds like Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K will be a spectacular look at the villain from a new perspective. In a season without much Marvel, M.O.D.O.K’s antics are sure to delight lifelong Marvel fans and newer recruits alike.
Are you intrigued by the premise? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K is slated for release on Hulu in early 2021.