The Covid-19 pandemic forced WonderCon to go virtual (hopefully things will be back to normal in 2022), with networks and film studios presenting panels via YouTube promoting their series and upcoming movies. Hulu hosted a special 40 minute panel on the much-anticipated adult animated series Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., teasing what’s in store over season one.
The WonderCon@Home panel included the series’ co-creators/writers/executive producers Jordan Blum and Patton Oswalt (the voice of Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing aka M.O.D.O.K.) as well as voice cast members Melissa Fumero (the voice of M.O.D.O.K.’s daughter, Melissa), Lucifer‘s Aimee Garcia (M.O.D.O.K.’s long-suffering wife, Jodie), Ben Schwartz (the voice of M.O.D.O.K.’s son, Lou), and Jon Daly (Super-Adaptoid).
During the fan Q&A, Oswalt was asked about the series’ humor and how it was decided to make this animated version of the character less threatening. “You know, it’s weird. It wasn’t really a decision to add comedy because even when we went back and read the original M.O.D.O.K. from the original comic that he was in – Captain America and The Falcon – there was an element of humor to him in that he’s so self-loathing and so full of angst that it’s kind of funny,” explained Oswalt. “He’s also such a ridiculously-created supervillain. He’s just this thing that lives in misery so we had a lot of fun just going, ‘Well, if we just extend out what he already is, it’s kind of funny.'”
Patton was also asked about the decision to do a stop-motion Marvel animated series. “We looked at a lot of different animation styles,” said Oswalt. “The stop-motion…there was just something about it because it’s Kirby and you want all the emotions and the facial expressions to be so big that stop-motion just ended up being the way to go.”
The panel also included the announcement of special season one guest stars. Jon Hamm will be voicing Iron Man, Whoopi Goldberg is Poundcakes, Nathan Fillion will be Wonder Man, and Bill Hader is taking on Angar the Screamer and The Leader.
Hulu will be launching the animated series on May 21, 2021. Additional series regulars include Wendi McLendon-Covey as Monica, Beck Bennett as Austin Van Der Sleet, and Sam Richardson as the voice of Gary.
The Plot:
In Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., the megalomaniacal supervillain M.O.D.O.K. has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization A.I.M. into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’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!
