Marvel has faced much backlash for being too “woke,” and their upcoming MCU movie might hurt an MCU villain’s debut.
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She-Hulk: Attorney At Law wasn’t well received due to questionable CGI and a blatant attack on the male audience. MCU fans weren’t happy with how the show portrayed male characters as rude, sexist, and idiots. This portrayal felt very much in alignment with how media portrays some “woke” content as it made Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk a “saint” and obviously in the right when it comes to men.
As with any super hero show, it’s very dramatic, and some of the points don’t sit well with fans, but Marvel has been pushing many other things that would be considered “woke.” Almost every MCU movie has some LGBTQ representation and has tended to replace several male iconic super hero with a female counterparts.
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For example, Jeremy Renner‘s Clint Barton introduced Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner mentored She-Hulk, Iron Man is now going to be replaced by Dominque Thorne’s Ironheart, etc. These newer super heroes were already introduced in the comics, but most MCU fans don’t care. To them, it feels like the characters they knew for over a decade are being left behind as Marvel continues to be more “woke.”
Not every fan thinks that wokeness is taking over the MCU, but one villain from Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) will probably suffer a lot of criticism even if Marvel is doing a comic-accurate job. While everyone knows that Jonathan Majors’s Kang the Conqueror will be the big baddie in Ant-Man 3, Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man will run into an old adversary.
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Corey Stoll’s Yellow Jacket will be returning as MODOK in the movie, as seen in the trailer, and fans have already pointed out how ridiculous the villain looks. His head is gigantic compared to his frail body, and his floating chair does look quite dangerous in a few shots as the villain will be armed with deadly weapons.
Unfortunately, MODOK in the comics and apparently in the MCU will be very conscious of his looks and has a fragile ego that will cause the character to be ill-tempered and very sensitive.
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In an interview, Jeff Loveness, the writer for Ant-Man, revealed that MODOK is a “loose cannon” that fans might not be prepared to see in the movie:
“His ego will crumble the second he’s challenged but then also like Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, he’s pretty good at killing people. He’s a real loose cannon character and I had a great amount of fun with him.”
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With such a fragile ego, fans will quickly begin pointing out after watching the movie that Marvel is still desperately trying to be “woke” when in fact, they are being comic-accurate. This will be a rare moment where fans might actually not like a villain based on what Marvel has done recently and cause fans to wish that villain was changed.
So far, the MCU has strayed away from backstories or character traits for several characters, so it probably won’t help future planning if MODOK, one of the more faithful adaptations of a Marvel character, is hated. It’s hard to tell just how faithful the villain’s story will be in the MCU, but Ant-Man 3 can’t afford to start Phase Five angering fans.
Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang/Ant-Man will end up in the Quantum Realm because of his daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), setting up a beacon linked to the Quantum Realm. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) explore the mysterious realm and learn about Kang the Conqueror, who will do anything to escape. The Marvel Cinematic Universe won’t be the same after Kang the Conqueror arrives, and the clock is ticking until the Multiverse Saga starts to get real for fans.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania releases in theaters on February 17, 2023.
Do you think Marvel is too woke? Let us know what you think!