Voice actor Usman Ally has revealed the visual design for MODOK, the primary antagonist of the upcoming action game Marvel's Avengers. The game sees Earth's Mightiest Heroes team up to face MODOK and AIM with a live-service model similar to Destiny 2, and it releases early next month.
Marvel's Avengers has had a bumpy development cycle to say the least. When the game was first announced, Marvel fans were quick to complain about the Avengers' character models, and even now that developer Crystal Dynamics has smoothed out that issue, there are a lot more controversies for Marvel's Avengers to overcome. The most prominent controversy facing the game right now is Spider-Man, who will be added to Marvel's Avengers as a DLC character after launch, but only for PlayStation owners. Xbox and PC players will not have access to Spider-Man at all, nor will they be getting an exclusive character of their own. And while the web-slinger is certainly the most prominent exclusive, he's far from the only advantage PlayStation has over other systems when it comes to the upcoming game.
None of this necessarily precludes Crystal Dynamics from making a good game, of course. The visual design, if nothing else, is pretty solid. This is especially evident from the design of antagonist MODOK, as revealed on Twitter by voice actor Usman Ally. Ally is voicing the sinister cybernetic creation, as well as his humanoid alter-ego George Tarleton, and he was able to unveil the monster's official design earlier today. Check it out below:
This is a pretty impressive interpretation of the classic villain. A lot of elements have been carried over from his design in the comics, including his iconic swollen head and the yellow-and-purple color scheme he's known for. He fits in well with the established aesthetic of AIM, and he certainly does look intimidating. Those giant robot arms should make for an exciting fight when players go head-to-massive-head with him. MODOK's inclusion in Marvel's Avengers is a big deal for the character, who's a prominent villain in comics but has had little representation in other media. There were rumors that he was coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, portrayed by none other than Peter Dinklage, but these never panned out, and he was relegated once again to the sidelines. Not even a possible appearance in the television show Agents of SHIELD could get him to rear his giant head.
There is a lot that Marvel's Avengers will have to do right in order to succeed, and there is unfortunately quite a bit still preventing it from delivering the gameplay experience fans want. Based on how development has been going so far, fans have every right to be wary of the title, but it might be a bit too early to write it off altogether. If nothing else, it should be fun to see a lesser-explored antagonist like MODOK finally get his time in the limelight. Based on this first glimpse at the character, he looks more than capable of posing a serious threat to players when Marvel's Avengers launches in September.
Marvel's Avengers will be released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Google Stadia, and PC on September 4th, 2020.
Source: Usman Ally/Twitter