If there’s one good thing about MODOK, it’s that his death scene was a pretty fitting, funny ending to the character, one that Loveness has every right to be proud of. “I think that death scene is my favorite that I’ve ever written,” he explained. “I love it so much.”
In the scene, MODOK has been killed after fighting against Kang (Jonathan Majors), but before he dies he gets to have one last conversation with Scott Lang while the rest of the Pym family stands by. The delusional side-villain thinks he’s fully redeemed himself with his last-minute, not-particularly-helpful turn towards the light side, and Scott decides to just go along with it. “At least I got to die as an Avenger,” MODAK says, and a confused, uncomfortable Scott figures there’s no point in correcting him.
On one hand, MODOK might represent the larger issue of the MCU’s unwillingness to take itself seriously, something a lot of fans have criticized the franchise for over the years. A little bit of silliness is unavoidable for certain characters, however, and in this case, it might be best for the movie to lean into it. Jeff Loveness knew they could never pull off a serious version of such an absurd comic book villain, so they made the smarter choice to not even try. As Loveness explained, “I’m sorry, you want to do a serious take on MODOK? I played that ‘Avengers’ game on PS5, good luck.”
