EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Television might be getting phased out, but Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. TV series at Hulu has a whole new chorus of voices.
Veep’s Sam Richardson, The Goldbergs’ Wendi McLendon-Covey, House of Lies’ Ben Schwartz and Lucifer’s Aimee Garcia are among the cast added to the animated supervillain family sitcom. With executive producer Patton Oswalt starring as the constantly foiled Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, the adult-centric comedy is set to debut this year on the Disney-controlled streamer.
“I’m blown away by our insanely talented and hilarious voice cast, who have all brought their specific kind of magic to this weird and wonderful corner of the Marvel Universe,” EP and showrunner Jordan Blum said of the additions to the series. Karim Zreik, Marvel TV Studios SVP Original Programming & Production added in a statement today: “Patton and Jordan have done a phenomenal job in laying the groundwork for this exceptional ensemble. We’re thrilled to include this cast in the Marvel family,”
Announced in February as part of a multi-series rollout for Hulu, M.O.D.O.K. follows the extremely dysfunctional home life of the ex-A.I.M. member, who made his comics premiere way back in 1967.
In addition to Richardson, McLendon-Covey, Schwartz and Garcia, the cast additions include Melissa Fumero (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Beck Bennet (Saturday Night Live, Bill & Ted Face The Music) and Jon Daly (The Kroll Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm).
In Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K., the megalomaniacal supervillain M.O.D.O.K. (Oswalt) has long pursued his dream of one day conquering the world. But after years of setbacks and failures fighting the Earth’s mightiest heroes, M.O.D.O.K. has run his evil organization A.I.M. into the ground. Ousted as A.I.M.’s leader, while also dealing with his crumbling marriage and family life, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing is set to confront his greatest challenge yet: a midlife crisis!
Garcia will play Jodie, M.O.D.O.K.’s wife and mother to his children, has had a late-in-life awakening — excited to pursue her mommy-blog turned lifestyle-brand empire and discover who she is as an independent woman in her forties. There are just too many things to do in this world and not enough time to waste being held back by negativity. And unfortunately for M.O.D.O.K., the thing weighing her down the most… is him.
Schwartz will portray Lou. To be honest, M.O.D.O.K. doesn’t really “get” his twelve-year-old son Lou. Not athletic enough to be a jock. Not smart enough to be a nerd. Lou is… well, Lou — a kid who clearly marches to the beat of his own drum. Lou’s lack of friends, ambition and hygiene is a constant worry for M.O.D.O.K., who often projects his own insecurities onto his overly confident son.
Fumero will portray Melissa. Even with her father’s “features,” seventeen-year-old Melissa has risen the ranks to become the Heathers-like queen bee of her school and a star in the world of teen figure skating. Every popular kid either wants to date her or avoid her terrifying wrath. But for all of her success, Melissa secretly yearns for her father’s approval.
McLendon-Covey is Monica Rappaccini, a brilliant mad-scientist at A.I.M. and M.O.D.O.K.’s rival at work. Clearly more competent and qualified than M.O.D.O.K., Monica believes she should be running the organization. After GRUMBL acquires A.I.M., Monica relishes in M.O.D.O.K.’s suffering until the new management begins to infringe on her ungodly experiments. With a common enemy in Austin, M.O.D.O.K. and Monica are finally able to put aside their differences and work together… when they aren’t constantly betraying each other.
Bennet portrays Austin Van Der Sleet. After M.O.D.O.K.’s evil organization A.I.M. is run into the ground, he’s forced to sell it to silicon valley tech-giant GRUMBL. GRUMBL sends slick, twenty-something Austin as a “post-merger-integration-consultant” and M.O.D.O.K.’s new boss. Though M.O.D.O.K. wishes he could just zap Austin to the Negative Zone, M.O.D.O.K. must find new solutions to confront Austin’s corporate jargon-speak and frequent mandatory HR meetings, if he’s ever going to reclaim A.I.M. from Austin’s grip.
Daly plays Super Adaptoid, a snarky android with ambitions to live, feel and create, but is instead forced to spend his days massaging the hoverchair sores on his creator M.O.D.O.K.’s scalp. Although the Adaptoid dreams of overwriting his programming and turning on M.O.D.O.K., there is also a begrudging friendship between these two.
Richardson, is Gary, a henchman or “beekeeper” at A.I.M. who is fiercely loyal to his boss M.O.D.O.K., even if M.O.D.O.K. struggles to remember his name. As M.O.D.O.K. continues to get demoted within his own organization, Gary is there by his side, always offering his help and unshakeable optimism whether M.O.D.O.K. wants it or not.
With a number of programming and personal shifts at Marvel’s small screen efforts in recent months, M.O.D.O.K. is still set to join the Offenders team-up series with Howard the Duck and others next year – at least for now.