| “ | My name is Darren! And I am not a dick! | „ |
| ~ M.O.D.O.K. to Kang the Conqueror and redeeming himself in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. |
Darren Cross, formerly known as Yellowjacket and M.O.D.O.K., is the main antagonist of the 2015 superhero film Ant-Man and the secondary antagonist of its 2023 threequel Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. He is the former protégé, later temporary enemy, and ally of Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne, Cassie Lang, Janet van Dyne, and Scott Lang. Originally introduced in an antagonistic role, he becomes an anti-hero as his character develops more later in the series.
Darren Cross was portrayed by Correy Stoll in Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
History[]
| “ | And at least I died. An Avenger. | „ |
| ~ Darren's last words before he dies surrounded by his former enemies. |
Ant-Man[]
Assistant to Hank Pym[]
Darren Cross graduated from MIT as valedictorian at the age of twenty. He was hired directly from MIT by Hank Pym, and for a time worked as his assistant. However, he wanted to learn the secrets of Pym's Ant-Man Suit and his size-reducing Pym Particle technology, only for Hank to repeatedly shrug off his curiosity and insist that no such thing existed. Cross became obsessed with proving the Pym Particle existed and at some point forced Pym from his company, Pym Technologies, and took over as CEO, renaming it Cross Technologies. Ever since, he put all of his efforts towards re-discovering the Pym Particle.
Present Day[]
In the film, Darren shows Hank his new project: a weaponized version of the Ant-Man Suit, codenamed the Yellowjacket. He wants to spread the suit around the world to revolutionize the future of warfare by selling it to the highest bidder. However, he has yet to replicate the Ant-Man's Pym Particle technology into the prototype so that it's safe for human use, as it degenerates the cellular structure of living organisms, turning them into a pile of lifeless genetic material. Hank, horrified at the danger the new suit poses, chooses prisoner Scott Lang to become the new Ant-Man and steal the Yellowjacket from Cross before it is perfected and unveiled to the world.
Eventually, Cross duplicates the Pym Particle technology into the Yellowjacket, albeit an imperfect version that drives the user insane when worn for too long. However, Cross does not realize this, thinking he perfected the suit, and visits Pym at his house to gloat and kill him. However, he is unable to do so when he realizes his assistant, Pym's daughter Hope van Dyne, is also present. Realizing his former mentor might intend to use his own Ant-Man Suit to stop him, he instead invites Pym to the unveiling ceremony to prevent him from doing so, while also increasing security.
When Ant-Man (Scott Lang) breaks into Cross Technologies and attempts to steal the suit, he is instead captured by Cross, who reveals he knew about their plan and intends to sell the Yellowjacket suit to HYDRA, represented by former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Mitchell Carson, while maintaining the monopoly on the particle used to fuel the suit. He then shoots Hank in the chest but Hank survives. When Ant-Man breaks out of the trap, Cross attempts to escape in a helicopter with the Yellowjacket, but Ant-Man follows him as Cross Technologies and its research is destroyed by bombs planted by Ant-Man earlier.
With no alternative, Cross dons the Yellowjacket suit and fights Ant-Man inside the helicopter, eventually dueling in a briefcase which falls out of the helicopter, landing in a pool. Rising from the water, Yellowjacket is about to attack the owners of the house, but is incapacitated by Ant-Man, who swats him into a bug zapper. However, Ant-Man is arrested before he can destroy the Yellowjacket suit. Enraged at Scott for losing his company and driven insane by the imperfect shrinking formula, Cross arrives at Scott's home and attempts to kill his daughter Cassie, but is stopped by Ant-Man and Paxton.
After a fierce fight with Ant-Man, Yellowjacket prepares to kill both Paxton and Cassie, but Ant-Man defeats him by shrinking to subatomic size and sabotaging the wiring in the Yellowjacket suit, causing Yellowjacket to shrink uncontrollably into oblivion.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania[]
Serving Kang the Conqueror[]
In his descent towards the Quantum Realm, Cross' body became mutilated, leaving him with an enlarged head that enveloped much of his torso. He was found by Kang the Conqueror, who outfitted him with mechanical implants, including an armed hoverchair and a heart monitor. Dubbed the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, or M.O.D.O.K., Cross would spend the next decade serving Kang.
M.O.D.O.K. would come into contact with the Lang and Pym families again when Cassie Lang attempted to demonstrate a beacon of her design that can transmit signals into the Quantum Realm. M.O.D.O.K. picked up the signals and sabotaged the device to summon them into the Quantum Realm, separating the two families. He took the Lang family captive and brought them to Kang, who sends Ant-Man into his enlarged power core in an effort to shrink and restore it back to working order. M.O.D.O.K. would monitor Ant-Man's status during this mission.
After Cassie breaks free from her imprisonment and incites a large-scale rebellion against Kang, M.O.D.O.K. battles her, but is eventually defeated when she figures out how to enlarge herself with her suit. Seeing that M.O.D.O.K. is lost inside, Cassie appeals to him by telling him to "don't be a dick", which leads him to turn on Kang and join the uprising against his empire. However, he would be mortally wounded in the conflict. Surrounded by the Lang and Pym families, Cross claimed to Ant-Man that he was like a brother to him, and that he died an Avenger, before passing on.
Personality[]
Cross, was a good person when he started working for Pym as his protege, but that changed when Cross became obsessed with the Pym Particles and the Ant-Man Suit. As Pym pointed out, Cross was basically what Pym used to be like in his youth and originally thought that he was the son he never had, but decided to push Cross away after seeing the same darkness that was within himself.
Cross' obsession led him to try to develop a new Pym Particle, which during the process, was beginning to make him volatile. Eventually Cross would have no problems with murder, as he killed Frank for questioning the Yellowjacket Suit's safety using a Shrink Gun, attempted to kill Pym out of jealousy and anger, and Cassie Lang and Jim Paxton when they got in the way. He was also willing to sell the Pym Particles and Yellowjacket Suit to shady businessmen like HYDRA. As a man of extreme caution and intellect, he was able to deduce and plan ahead of his enemies, like when he set a trap for Scott Lang, Pym and Hope van Dyne after the latter attempted to steal his suit. As Yellowjacket, he became crazy after losing Pym Technologies and being electrified by a fly-light trap. He attempted to kill Ant-Man with no restraint, as he unintentionally killed his bodyguards and the pilots during the helicopter fight with no regard for his own action, and was willing to use Cassie Lang as a hostage to get to her father.
Despite his many negative qualities, he actually valued his teacher's wisdom, wanting to work beside him and stating they could have worked on the shrinking technology together. He was very saddened when his teacher distanced himself from him, as seen when he asked Dr. Pym why he chose him and why he pushed him away, having a tone of sadness as he spoke. He also seemed to care for Dr. Pym's daughter, Hope, taking her to dinner, showing gratitude towards her, and stating he was lucky to have her on his team. Additionally, he was visibly distraught by Hope's betrayal, like the night he planned to kill Pym, he stopped himself because van Dyne was there and he knew he wasn't ready to kill her.
Eventually after being forced by Kang the Conqueror to become M.O.D.O.K., Cross would relegate himself to his lackey or face Kang's anger, briefly having Cross only seeing himself only as the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing. However, after losing to an older Cassie, Cross would break down over his repeated failures, only for Cassie to help inspire him to turn on Kang and finally be a hero he saw himself as. Even as his betrayal resulted in his death, Cross would apologize to his former enemies, even admitting that he saw Scott as a brother, as a fellow Hank Pym protégé, and even had them try to comfort him saying that he was an Avenger, despite having no say in the matter.
Powers and Abilities[]
Powers[]
- Doomsday Chair Capabilities
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Speed
- Flight
- Energy Blasts
Former Powers[]
- Yellowjacket Suit Capabilities
- Size-Manipulation
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Durability
- Flight
- Energy Blasts
- Size-Manipulation
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intellect
- Master Scientist
- Master Engineer
- Master Businessman
- Master Marksman
Equipment[]
- Doomsday Chair:
- Helmet:
- Doomsday Chair Weapons:
Former Equipment[]
- Shrinking Gun:
- Yellowjacket Suit:
Weaknesses[]
- Arrogance:
- Inferiority Complex
- Limited Mobility
- Dependent on Doomsday Chair
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
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Enemies[]
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Quotes[]
To be added.
Trivia[]
- In the original comics, Yellowjacket is an alternate alias used by Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man. Also, Darren Cross had no connection to Pym, but was the first enemy of second Ant-Man, Scott Lang.
- The Yellowjacket Suit was partially inspired by the suit used by the third Ant-Man in the comics, Eric O'Grady.
- The Yellowjacket Suit is named after a Yellowjacket wasp, the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula, that are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries.
- Ant-Man director Peyton Reed said, in a reaction to the "Honest Trailer" for the film, that there was a chance that Yellowjacket could be still be alive in the Quantum Realm. This would ultimately be confirmed in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
External Links[]
- M.O.D.O.K. on the Villains Wiki
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