David Farnor | On 21, Apr 2021

Marvel’s MODOK invades UK screens this May, as it joins the growing library of adult-friendly titles on Star on Disney+.

Originally part of a quartet of Hulu superhero series, the adult animation stars Patton Oswalt as MODOK, the megalomaniacal supervillain, who has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, MODOK. has run his evil organisation AIM into the ground. Ousted as AIM’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.

The series premieres on Disney+ on 21st May, with episodes arriving weekly. Here’s a trailer:

 

Marvel and Hulu unveil cast for MODOK

29th January 2020

Marvel and Hulu have unveiled the official cast for MODOK, their new animated series.

The project is one of what was originally envisaged as quartet of shows at Hulu, designed to build to a crossover event series, The Offenders: Howard the Duck, overseen by Kevin Smith and Dave Willis, Tigra & Dazzler Show, co-written by Chelsea Handler and Erica Rivinoja, Hit-Monkey, brought to life by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, and MODOK, shepherded to the screen by Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum.

Howard the Duck and Tigra & Dazzler have both been axed, but Marvel and Hulu are pushing ahead with Hit-Monkey and MODOK – and to prove it, they’ve announced the cast for the show, which will include the voices of Patton Oswalt, Aimee Garcia, Melissa Fumero,Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ben Schwartz, Beck Bennett, Jon Daly and Sam Richardson.

Slated for debut this year, Marvel’s MODOK signals Marvel’s first endeavour into animated comedy geared towards adults.

In Marvel’s MODOK, the megalomaniacal supervillain MODOK (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, MODOK has run his evil organisation AIM into the ground. Ousted as AIM’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.

Jodie, MODOK’s wife and mother to his children, has had a late-in-life awakening — excited to pursue her mommy-blog turned lifestyle-brand empire and discover who she is as an independent woman in her forties. There are just too many things to do in this world and not enough time to waste being held back by negativity. And unfortunately for MODOK, the thing weighing her down the most… is him.

MODOK doesn’t really “get” his twelve-year-old son Lou. Not athletic enough to be a jock. Not smart enough to be a nerd. Lou is… well, Lou — a kid who clearly marches to the beat of his own drum. Lou’s lack of friends, ambition and hygiene is a constant worry for MODOK, who often projects his own insecurities onto his overly confident son.

Even with her father’s “features”, seventeen-year-old Melissa has risen the ranks to become the Heathers-like queen bee of her school and a star in the world of teen figure skating. Every popular kid either wants to date her or avoid her terrifying wrath. But for all of her success, Melissa secretly yearns for her father’s approval.

Monica is a brilliant mad-scientist at AIM and MODOK’s rival at work. Clearly more competent and qualified than MODOK, Monica believes she should be running the organisation. After GRUMBL acquires AIM, Monica relishes in MODOK’s suffering until the new management begins to infringe on her ungodly experiments. With a common enemy in Austin, MODOK and Monica are finally able to put aside their differences and work together… when they aren’t constantly betraying each other.

After MODOK’s evil organisation AIM is run into the ground, he’s forced to sell it to silicon valley tech-giant GRUMBL. GRUMBL sends slick, twenty-something Austin as a “post-merger-integration-consultant” and MODOK’s new boss. Though MODOK wishes he could just zap Austin to the Negative Zone, MODOK must find new solutions to confront Austin’s corporate jargon-speak and frequent mandatory HR meetings, if he’s ever going to reclaim AIM from Austin’s grip.

A snarky android with ambitions to live, feel and create, but is instead forced to spend his days massaging the hover-chair sores on his creator MODOK’s scalp. Although the Adaptoid dreams of overwriting his programming and turning on MODOK, there is also a begrudging friendship between these two.

Gary is a henchman or “beekeeper” at AIM who is fiercely loyal to his boss MODOK, even if MODOK struggles to remember his name. As MODOK continues to get demoted within his own organisation, Gary is there by his side, always offering his help and unshakeable optimism whether MODOK wants it or not.

“I’m blown away by our insanely talented and hilarious voice cast, who have all brought their specific kind of magic to this weird and wonderful corner of the Marvel Universe,” says series Executive Producer and Showrunner Jordan Blum.

“Patton and Jordan have done a phenomenal job in laying the groundwork for this exceptional ensemble, we’re thrilled to include this cast in the Marvel family,” adds Karim Zreik, SVP, Original Programming & Production, Marvel TV Studios.

 

Marvel and Hulu team up for Howard the Duck and other series

13th February 2019

Marvel fans may get a case streaming deja vu very soon, as the comics titan and VOD service Hulu have inked a deal to release a string of new superhero series. Howard the Duck will lead a new quartet of animated shows from Marvel TV, which will build to a crossover event series – a deal that strongly recalls the pact for The Defenders Marvel signed with Netflix not so many years ago.

The VOD landscape has changed since then, however, and Marvel owner Disney’s merger with Fox is about to see its ownership stake in Hulu jump from 30% to 60%. As a result, it’s expected that the House of Mouse will use Hulu to stream some of its more adult-friendly content, while focusing on more family-friendly material for its own subscription platform, Disney+.

The deal follows Hulu’s existing Marvel series Runaways, and covers four projects. Howard the Duck, who had his own 1986 movie and briefly appeared in the Avengers franchise, will have his solo series overseen by Kevin Smith and Dave Willis.

Chelsea Handler will exec-produce and write Tigra & Dazzler Show alongside Erica Rivinoja, following the progressive duo as they “try to get their superpowered heads, hands and hearts around life in the City of Angels”.

Marvel’s villain Hit-Monkey will be brought to life by Josh Gordon and Will Speck, while MODOK, which follows a Japanese snow monkey taking on Tokyo’s crime underbelly, will be shepherded to the screen by Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum.

All four series will be steered and co-produced by Marvel TV head Jeph Loeb, with Loeb then exec-producing the crossover special, The Offenders, which will see all four solo outings collide.

The news came at the TCA press tour this week and follows the cancellation of several Marvel projects at Netflix, including Iron Fist and Daredevil. The only two of Hell’s Kitchen’s characters left standing are The Punisher and Jessica Jones, both of which are expected to eventually have the plug pulled on them too.

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