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Hey, Marvel fans.
I'm Ryan Penagos, aka Agent M, and I
am freaking hyped to be here today
talking to the writers of MODOK Head Games,
Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum.
Gentlemen, how are you? - Very good.
Doing well.
Thank you for having us on, man.
It's exciting.
And you know, we're here to talk about everyone's special boy,
everyone's favorite.
So as you can see, I like MODOK.
And I think you guys do too.
But why a MODOK count?
We did the MODOK show for Hulu,
and Jordan and the writers created such an amazing kind
of world around MODOK that has never been seen in the comics.
And we had so much creativity to burn that Jordan just said,
we should fill this in in, like, a four issue comic series,
kind of as a background.
And I always loved that, to be able to have to go even
deeper into that world was like, oh, yeah,
let's absolutely do this.
We were so excited to do to write the 616 Marvel version.
Obviously our character, our take of MODOK on the show,
is a little more satirical, a little more comedic.
And I think we leapt at the chance to write the MODOK who
had been there since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
since the 1960s and kind of put our spin on him
and also kind of pull from a lot of the other versions of MODOK
in the past.
I think the character is very flexible.
And I think you can do a lot with him.
Were there things you were surprised about, whether it's
something that you find yourself enjoying about MODOK,
or discovering, or getting into, as you sort of build this out?
Patton, what about you?
It was interesting when we-- especially when we built up his
childhood and family relationships
and looked at his origin story from a different angle.
You sort of see that in a way, he's on this kind of justified
mission of vengeance.
He's a tragic character.
He's built out of tragedy.
He was forced into this experiment.
And they were going to turn him into a computer.
And he rebelled and took over.
And I think that's haunted him.
And he knows that he's this monster.
And it plays into both his ego and his insecurities.
So you guys have been writing MODOK Head Games the comic book
at the same time you've been working
on Marvel's MODOK for Hulu.
Is there going to be any sort of connection, any similarities,
any plot points, things that might crossover
between the two properties?
We've pulled, I'd say, big elements, like Monica,
Super-Adaptoid, AIM.
I think they're pillars in every version of MODOK
that you have to use to kind of build your story.
Iron Man has to show up.
You can't do a good MODOK story without Iron Man.
Iron Man in a very interesting way.
OK, so how does it feel to be writing
your very first Marvel comic and writing it together?
It was really amazing to be with someone who
has such deep, deep whole Marvel knowledge
and could just live in the references,
but he always hides it into a much deeper,
like, human story, both comedically and tragically.
You know, I grew up loving this format.
And to work and it has been the greatest thrill ever.
And to get to just play with Patton on this
has been an absolute joy.
If you could gain all of MODOK's powers, and technology,
and all the cool bells and whistles that come with,
like, being MODOK, but you had to be
MODOK in the physical attributes,
would you take that chance?
Would you go-- would you dive deep into it?
I don't think so.
It doesn't look-- ultimately, it does not look fun to be MODOK.
And it's no way to spend a life, floating around in a toilet.
I'm a pretty lazy guy, so I'd consider it.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for chatting
with me about MODOK Head Games.
Also, thank you for making the comic book,
MODOK Head Games with Scott Hepburn
and the rest of the crew, because the first issue
was great.
The rest of it is going to be fantastic.
I'm very excited for fans to check it out.
Thank you, Ryan.
I hope we don't let you down.
Yeah.
As MODOK lovers, we tried our best.
And everybody out there watching, make sure you pick up
MODOK Head Games number 1, available everywhere
this December.
I'm Ryan and this is Marvel, your universe.
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