After his latest evil scheme goes awry, M.O.D.O.K’s A.I.M finds itself in financial dire straits. Can he save his evil empire and his marriage?

M.O.D.O.K. has always been one of the more bizarre Marvel characters, and those wondering whether the giant-headed evil genius might ever make his way to the MCU may be wondering no more once they have seen this latest offbeat take on the guy.

Voiced by the delightful Patton Oswalt, this version of M.O.D.O.K. leans into all the various silliness that is inherent to the character and his general origin story hard. A.I.M. here is a generic, Dr Evil-esque style Evil Organisation™, staffed by faceless goons who desperately try to fulfil their boss’ grandiose schemes but too often find themselves the victims of his insane overreach and/or his personal anger management problems. It’s foul-mouthed, full of gore and puerile humour and it’s definitely one of the most fun things done with a Marvel property since Ryan Reynolds donned red spandex.

The true genius though, lies in the very human side of the character and his family life. Wife Jodie is a successful online influencer who just wants to support her man and for him to be happy, but she’s also no pushover, and hanging onto his financially cratering evil organisation isn’t the only challenge facing our antihero.

And on that, tech giant Grumbl (which feels heavily reminiscent of Parks and Rec’s Grizzl) turns up to save the day with an offer to bail out A.I.M. in return for M.O.D.O.K. building them a new tablet. This part gets particularly deliciously ironic as we see a global tech conglomerate outwit a genuine evil genius, though admittedly as much due to his own haphazard relationship with reality as anything else.

The stop motion animation style won’t be for everyone but fans of stuff like Adult Swim will feel right at home. Both with the visuals and with the tone of the humour which constantly gently mocks its own genre as much as anything else without ever crossing over into feeling mean – after all, it’s ok to laugh at the bad guys, right?

Verdict: Filthy, violent and questionable in all the ways parents of the 80s might have worried about, but also intelligent, witty and fun. Turns out swearing can be big and clever after all. 9/10

Greg D. Smith