Once Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige took control of Marvel Television, many of the previous titles in development under former head Jeph Loeb were abandoned.
One such title was a “New Warriors” series for Freeform with a full cast announced back in 2017. Ordered to series, a pilot was shot but then Freeform no longer had any room for it and no other network wanted it (despite good reaction to said pilot).
The showrunner was “Cougar Town” and “Enlisted” creator Kevin Biegel who took to Twitter to reveal that his plan was to transform legendary acting veteran Keith David into the character M.O.D.O.K. – the iconic comic book villain’s live-action debut.
David was cast as Ernest Vigman, a caustic municipal employee who butts up against the hopeful energy of the New Warriors. Though the origin is quite different, Biegel says it wasn’t a flippant change and was carefully planned out:
“I just got sad talking to a friend because I remembered we had a seasons-long plan on our New Warriors show to turn Keith David’s character into M.O.D.O.K., that would’ve been so good. Ah, another timeline. Just shut your eyes and imagine Keith David saying, “MODOK.” And then laughing. Oh my God it still gives me goosebumps.”
Had it gone ahead, the project would’ve included the likes of Milana Vayntrub as Squirrel Girl and Derek Theler as Mister Immortal in its cast. M.O.D.O.K. will be making his debut in animated form for an adult animated comedy for Hulu which is currently in development.
Source: Twitter
