Marvel’s New Warriors TV series never made it to the screen, even after the show had been ordered straight to series by Freeform. Kevin Biegel was appointed as showrunner, and an entire cast of young actors was announced, and an entire pilot shot for the series. However, New Warriors has seemingly died in limbo, so now all we have are more stories about what could’ve been, had the show actually aired. One big missed opportunity in New Warriors has been revealed by Kevin Biegel himself: we could’ve had actor Keith David as New Warrior’s M.O.D.O.K.!
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.
— kevinbiegel (@kbiegel) June 17, 2020
that would’ve been so good. Ah, another timeline.
— kevinbiegel (@kbiegel) June 17, 2020
Just shut your eyes and imagine Keith David saying, “MODOK.” And then laughing. Oh my God it still gives me goosebumps.
— kevinbiegel (@kbiegel) June 17, 2020
“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.”
If you don’t know him by name (somehow), actor Keith David is one of Hollywood’s most esteemed deep-bass voices – arguably the James Earl Jones of his generation. As such, David’s voice has been employed to bring all kinds of animated and/or CGI characters to life – including in the superhero / comic book genre. He voices the evil ape Solovar on The Flash; King T’Chaka in the Avengers Assemble animated series; Mongul in the Young Justice series; Spawn in the classic HBO animated series and multiple Spawn-related video games (as well as games like Saints Row); not to mention his work as Goliath (and others) in the classic Gargoyles animated series.
David’s work has continued being iconic in recent years, as he has joined new TMNT animated series, Adventure Time, Star vs. the Forces of Evil and so much more. His New Warriors role would’ve been Ernest Vigman, who was described as “a caustic municipal employee who butts up against the hopeful energy of the new warriors.” His evolution into a live-action M.O.D.O.K. would’ve been a nice twist, and probably would’ve been a great version of the villain in David’s hands.
Marvel’s New Warriors is still nowhere to be found.
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