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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Marvel has a myriad of television projects releasing throughout this current year. The first few months gave us Jac Schaeffer’s WandaVision, followed by Malcolm Spellman’s Captain America and the Winter Soldier. Later, we’ll be having Loki, What If...?, and hopefully, Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye. While not set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or releasing on Disney+ like the others, M.O.D.O.K. makes a great television addition to this list of Marvel shows. The series releases on Hulu later this week, and it uses a style of animation not many have seen before.
Keep an eye out for spoilers as we will be discussing the first season of the show. Although, we shall keep that at a minimal amount for the sake of the article.
Season 1 Summary
After wasting years of his life failing to usurp the world, supervillain M.O.D.O.K (Patton Oswalt) has been removed from his company, A.I.M (Advanced Idea Mechanics), which is sold to a rival company, GRUMBL. At the same time, he faces hardships with his family at home. Two conflicts weave into a combined storyline, coming full circle with what is introduced.
Aimee Garcia, Melissa Fumero, and Ben Schwartz portray the supervillain’s wife Jodie, daughter Melissa, and son Lou, respectively. Jon Daly plays Super-Adaptoid, who is often mocked as the family tool. M.O.D.O.K.’s A.I.M. colleagues consist of Monica Rappaccini (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and Garfield “Gary” (Sam Richardson). Additionally, Beck Bennett voices GRUMBL tech company rival, Austin Van Der Sleet.
Jon Hamm appears as Iron Man, Bill Hader as the Leader, Whoopi Goldberg as Poundcakes, Nathan Fillion as Wonder Man, and more guest voice actors. Zara Mizrahi, Chris Parnell, Eddie Pepitone, Kevin Michael Richardson, Meredith Salenger, Dustin Ybarra, Trevor Devall, John Di Maggio, Lennon Parham, Brooke Dillman, Brian Posehn, Jonathan Kite, and Jonathan Van Ness also make voice appearances.
Discussion
M.O.D.O.K. Season 1 runs for a good ten episodes, half an hour apiece. For those who binge-watch, this might be a breeze; otherwise, pace yourselves. If the stop motion animation looks familiar to you, then you will definitely be familiar with Stoopid Buddy Studios’ work on Adult Swim’s Robot Chicken. This style of animation makes the Marvel comic book narrative of storytelling feel new and refreshing.
M.O.D.O.K.‘s longer runtime allows for a longer and more proper narrative to be told. Although I initially did not think I would like the series, I found it to be my cup of tea. Eric Towner and Alex Kamer direct all ten of the episodes, having come from Robot Chicken, which means Marvel made the right choice in hiring them.
From a cinematographic standpoint, the series looks visually appealing. Susie Shircliff, Scott DaRos, Sihanouk Mariona, and Frank Duran are the respective masterminds behind the principal photography, animation direction, and art direction. Caroline Kastelic, Julia Kalugina Rosner, Kei Chong are in charge of puppet fabrication, costume fabrication, and art design. Lastly, I should also laud Mike Spitzmiller for supervising the visual effects of the series.
Chris Rodgers, Jessica Shobe, and Jenny McKibben serve as the episode editors. Daniel Rojas serves as the series’ music composer.
Plot and Writing
M.O.D.O.K.‘s story has some steady pacing, and by the end, you will be laughing and crying. In fact, a part of you might be wanting more of the character’s story, as the season does not conclude the way one might expect. The choices made by the series’ characters throughout the first season’s plot are batshit crazy. The only other series that has gone down this path is WandaVision. Although, M.O.D.O.K. is just as remarkable in the way the narratives are driven.
Jordan Blum, Patton Oswalt, Geoff Barbanell, Itai Grunfeld, Brett Cawley, Robert Maitia, Cullen Crawford, Lauren Sadja Otero, Yolanda Carney act as the series’ episode writers. Carney also serves as the staff writer, while Crawford serves as story editor.
The series brings in well-known and even lesser-known characters and other properties from the Marvel comics, which were astonishing to see. The writers poke fun at popular culture such as movies, 1990s music, Internet memes, television, and literature, the references to which felt better than is executed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. M.O.D.O.K. tackles themes of family matters, existentialism, and sometimes god complexes in this first season, which another science-fiction comedy series has done gradually, over the course of a few seasons. The series also pays homage to some of its Marvel staff members, Jack Kirby, Fred Van Lente, Mark Gruenwald, and more.
Acting and Development
In terms of voice acting, Oswalt reigns supreme as the protagonist, M.O.D.O.K. Oftentimes, I find myself a tad frightened, forgetting it’s the actor in the role. The character is oblivious to the goings-on around him, and this contributes to part of why I laughed and cried for the series. He has what it takes to bring the world to posthuman heights, but instead, he keeps it as transhuman as possible.
Then, we have Garcia, Fumero, and Schwartz portraying M.O.D.O.K.’s family members, who perform magnificently in the roles they’re given. McLendon-Covey and Bennett do well as the opposing villain characters, however, I would have liked a sprinkle of development on their ends. Daly is interesting in his supporting role as Super-Adaptoid. Although, I wonder if he will have more backstory in the future. To add, the same can be said for Sam Richardson’s character, Gary.
Hamm, Hader, Goldberg, and Fillion are fine in their respective supporting/guest roles. I would like to see more of them, but then again, this series does not focus on these characters.
Final Thoughts
I must commend the collective endeavors of the animators, writers, and voice actors of Hulu and Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. It takes a lot of intelligence to craft something as wonderfully made as this series. If you are as big a fan of stop-motion animation and comic books as I am, then this television adaptation is right up your alley. I could not help but laugh at some of the ironies in the writing. At other times, I found myself surprised at the series’ use of other rhetorical techniques.
I would love if Stoopid Buddy Studios’ art style could move to film in the future, or maybe feature more guest actors. There is a lot you can gain from this series, and much of this comes from M.O.D.O.K.’s family members. Overall, this Hulu and Marvel television adaptation of the comic book character may not be quite what you will expect, with all of its twists and turns in space, time, narrative, animation style, and other cinematic aspects.
M.O.D.O.K. releases with ten episodes via Hulu on May 21st! Brace yourselves; you are in for a rocky ride.
Are you excited to see this series? What are your opinions on it? Let us know! For more action, animation, comedy, science-fiction, and stop-motion-related news and reviews, follow The Cinema Spot on Twitter (@TheCinemaSpot) and Instagram (@thecinemaspot_). You can also follow us on Facebook (TheCinemaSpotFB)!
Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
