Corey Stoll Talks Playing Marvel’s Fan Favorite M.O.D.O.K. In ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania’

Marvel

Feb 28

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

The villain from the first Ant-Man film, Darren Cross, returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Scoot Lang’s latest adventure in Quantumania. Cross, played by Corey Stoll, was rescued from death in the Quantum Realm by Kang and turned into a Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, or M.O.D.O.K for short. Variety, Collider, and The Hollywood Reporter sat down with the actor to discuss his return to the MCU. The actor compared his filming experience to live theater. The crew set up motion capture dots on Stoll’s face to capture his expressions, but the actor was free to play around with his lines and try different takes without needing to wait for cameras and lights.

When Marvel Studios released their first look at M.O.D.O.K, fans had a divided reaction. It turns out Corey Stoll’s reaction was divided as well. The actor revealed that he laughed hilariously at the image but found it quite disturbing. Although the character dies in the film, Stoll is open to returning as Darren Cross or M.O.D.O.K. in the future as Marvel explores a multiverse of possibilities. Despite the strange and unsettling details of the death scene, Stoll connected his performance with his Shakespeare history. Stoll claimed that in his mind, Cross feels like Hamlet dying next to Horatio. The actor’s challenge was to make that real in a crazy scene with a slightly disturbing gigantic face. Stoll isn’t the only actor to find work as a disembodied head on screen. During the filming of Quantumania, Hulu released a M.O.D.O.K. series with Patton Oswalt as the lead. Stoll praised Oswalt’s acting chops and revealed that he watched the series.

While working on the latest Ant-Man set, Stoll also filmed the Zack Synder production Rebel Moon. While the MCU was filled with tech to create movie magic, the set of Synder’s film focused more on realism. The actors were just people rather than crazy machines, and the set was built to score. Stoll complimented Syder’s work, calling him a very hands-on director. Quantumania is currently playing in theaters, while Rebel Moon is set to release on December 22, 2023.

READ NEXT:

Featured