Corey Stoll has been confirmed to be playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s MODOK in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which could still very well be Darren Cross, which would change the original origin story of the villain from the comics adaptation. Corey Stoll could just be playing a brand new character in the MCU, which would most likely be the well-known scientist in the MODOK chair known as George Tarleton. However, Corey Stoll has already played an iconic Marvel villain in the past as he was Darren Cross, also known as the Yellowjacket, in the first installment Ant-Man back in 2015.
So, which version of MODOK will we be treated to in the upcoming sequel, will it be Tarleton or will it just be a shrinking-gone-wrong version of Darren Cross’ Yellowjacket? There have been various adaptations of MODOK throughout the television and gaming worlds within the Marvel universe, mostly with George Tarleton being the enlarged-head and egotistical antagonist that many MODOK fans will be familiar with. What if, however, this new version is actually a post-Ant-Man Yellowjacket, that was all set up during the final events of the first movie?
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How Yellojacket Became MODOK Theory
During the final battle in the 2015 Marvel Studios movie Ant-Man, Yellowjacket takes on Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang in an epic normal and shrunken-sized fight sequence, with Darren Cross/ Yellowjacket meeting his demise at the hands of Ant-Man. However, many fans theorized over the years that Darren Cross may have survived being shrunken into tiny particles, possibly being sent to the quantum realm just as Ant-Man and the gang will be doing in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Just like when Janet van Dyne, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, went through a similar experience in the MCU when shrinking so small to disable a bomb that she ended up traveling to the quantum realm and becoming stuck there for years, it is highly possible that the same thing has happened to Cross.
When analyzing the Yellowjacket and Ant-Man fight sequence in the first movie, it becomes more clear that they may have set up for his return as MODOK almost ten years prior to the third installment. When Ant-Man shrinks down to a dangerously small size so that he can disable Yellowjacket’s suit system, which also almost ends up getting Lang stuck in the quantum realm, Yellowjacket then shrinks into nothingness and hasn’t appeared in the MCU since. However, when Yellowjacket is reduced to atoms, if you watch slowly and carefully, it is noticeable that his limbs are the first to start shrinking with his head fluctuating to different sizes before zapping out of existence, and we may know why.
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Darren Cross’ Helmet Was Broken When Shrinking
One thing that is highly emphasized during Yellowjacket’s “death” scene was the damage his helmet received when Ant-Man was destroying the system in his suit. The eyepiece on the helmet was blown out, and broken, while his suit was malfunctioning which could explain why his version of MODOK could have an extremely large head. It has been made canonical in the MCU that the suits worn by characters such as Ant-Man, Wasp, and the Yellowjacket, are purely worn to protect their bodies while using the Pym particles to shrink and enlarge. Without the suits, their bodies wouldn’t be able to regulate properly, so a broken eyepiece on the helmet can surely only mean one thing.
With this information added to the fact that Darren Cross’ limbs shrink down with no issue but his head seems to struggle to regulate to the smaller size, it becomes almost obvious that this will be the new origin story for MODOK. We, of course, won’t know the full story until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania officially releases this February, but it’s safe to assume that this may very well be the new MODOK origin that was staring us in the face all along.
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Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania comes to cinemas on the 17th of February, 2023.
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