Ant-Man 3 VFX Boss Shines New Light on MODOK's Butt (Exclusive)

By Adam Barnhardt

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shocked fans by introducing MODOK to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, officially giving the franchise one of the most bizarre characters it will ever see. The Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, MODOK is known for his astonishingly large head and his hover chair, an unmistakably iconic look across the land of comic books. Those tuning into the latest Ant-Man picture got another surprise in the form of MODOK's rear-end, with the character inadvertently showing his rump to movie-goers everywhere.

As Digital Domain VFX supervisor Dave Hodgins recalls, the moment in question was initially cut from the film entirely, only to be placed back in later in the production. "They added that montage flashback scene to tell that story between Yellowjacket and MODOK," Hodgins says. "So it just came back into the movie late in the game and we had much discussion about the MODOK butt."

Given the scene itself was important in telling the story of how Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) managed to shift from Yellowjacket into MODOK, the VFX supe says the sequence was needed, butt or not. Regardless, he and his team at Digital Domain happened to place a little more light on MODOK's tush than what Marvel requested.

"[The scene] was essentially always back lit," Hodgins remembers. "But ultimately, I think we got more light on his butt than initially intended because he was more supposed to be a silhouette."

Stoll himself is glad the sequence made it into the film, telling ComicBook.com's Jenna Anderson earlier this year he laughed hysterically the first time he saw animatics.

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"I wasn't aware of the fervor, but very glad to hear that," Stoll explained with a laugh. "On the very first day I visited set, I went to the offices. They showed me all the art and the animatics. They showed me a brief animatic of that scene, and, I mean, I laughed hysterically. I thought it was so brilliant and funny. Then I heard that they were going to cut that scene, and I lobbied pretty hard for them to put it back in. I can't take credit for having that in there, but I will."

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be available for purchase as a digital copy beginning April 18th while it will receive a physical home media release on May 16th. It has yet to be confirmed when the movie will hit Disney+.

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