Trapped and heavily disfigured in the Quantum Realm, Cross was found by Kang the Conqueror, who provided him with a mechanical armor and dubbed him the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, or M.O.D.O.K. for short. Cross spent over a decade serving Kang as his sentient weapon and enforcer. Eventually, Ant-Man, his daughter and the Pym family were stranded in the realm, and M.O.D.O.K. was tasked to capture the Langs. As a revolution broke out across Axia, M.O.D.O.K. attempted to annihilate Cassie one last time before she convinced him to change sides. M.O.D.O.K. turned against his master and reconciled with his old enemies before passing away.
"He was my assistant. I thought I saw something in him. The son I never had, perhaps. He was brilliant, but as we became close, he began to suspect that I wasn't telling him everything. He heard rumors about what was called the Pym Particle, and he became obsessed with recreating my formula. But I wouldn't help him. So he conspired against me and he voted me out of my own company."
Darren Cross was born in the 1970s at New York City to a scientist and a salesperson. In the 1990s, he went on to high school, where Cross gained high-level popularity as he became a scientific genius.[1] Cross went on to attend MIT and graduated as valedictorian at the age of twenty.
Cross was hired directly from MIT by Hank Pym, and for a time worked as his assistant at Pym Technologies.[3] However, Cross became obsessed with learning the secrets of Pym's Ant-Man Suit, and his size-reducing Pym Particle technology, despite Pym's constant attempts to convince Cross that it was nothing more than an urban legend and should not be taken seriously.[1]
Taking Over[]
"I'll also say, to the people of San Francisco, and the world, they can plan on Pym Tech unveiling a new venture this summer that I think they'll find astonishing."
Over the years, Cross forced out Hank Pym from his own company and took over as CEO, renaming it Cross Technologies; the company under Cross' leadership became a rival of Stark Industries thanks to his guidance. Cross continued to obsess over Pym's previous experiments that had remained hidden from the world, focusing much of his energy into understanding the science behind the fabled Ant-Man Suit. Eventually, Cross' obsession paid off and he was able to make his own weaponized version of the Ant-Man Suit, which was called the Yellowjacket Suit.[4] Among many of the potential buyers of the suit, Cross had a particular interest in S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA and the Ten Rings.[5]
"So what drew you to Pym Tech?" "Research way ahead of its time, but what truly blew me away was what I found in Pym Tech's cold storage. Achieves of abandoned projects and suspended R&D. Sometimes the past just needs a fresh set of eyes."
Cross gave an interview with WIRED Insider discussing his work at Pym Technologies. Cross assured his interviewer, James Rondell, that Pym Tech was working hard with their old designs while developing a new design that would be astonishing. When Cross was asked about Hank Pym, his past involvement in the company, and whether or not he was pushed out of his company, Cross claimed he and Pym were close friends before cutting the interview short.[3]
"Hank, will you tell our guests what you told me every single time I asked you was the Ant-Man real?" "Just a tall tale." "Right, because how could anything so miraculous possibly be real?"
Cross organized a presentation with several potential investors for his Yellowjacket Suit, and also invited Hank Pym to witness his success. To his surprise, Pym showed up and was greeted by his estranged daughter, Hope van Dyne, who was now working for Cross. While giving his presentation, Cross showed off many pieces of footage believed to be of Ant-Man in the 1980s and used Pym as an example of his history with the project, which Pym continued to deny.
Eventually, Cross showed his guests his Yellowjacket armor and explained its many benefits to the military with a slick presentation. He explained how he had been able to recreate the technology used by the Ant-Man and created a new form of Pym Particles which could shrink who or whatever came into contact with it while increasing their strength. However, a member of Pym Technologies, Frank, seemed less than impressed, noting it was only a suit which could also pose a threat if it were to fall into the hands of their enemies. Annoyed at having been questioned, Cross asked to see Frank in private later to discuss the Yellowjacket further.
With the guests discussing the pitch, Cross spoke to Pym in private. When Pym finally confessed that he had developed the Pym Particles and the Ant-Man Suit in the 1980s, Pym warned Cross not to pursue this project any further as he believed that the technology was far too dangerous when put into the wrong hands. Cross refused to listen to reason and vowed to complete his work, telling Pym that they could have built the Yellowjacket as partners, but Pym had ruined any chance of repairing their partnership.
As Cross walked away from Pym, he was approached by Mitchell Carson, an old enemy of Pym's who was now working for HYDRA. Carson offered a deal to Cross in which HYDRA would purchase the Yellowjacket Suit for twenty percent of his asking price in exchange for a fast payment in cash. Blinded by his greed and pride, Cross accepted the offer and began to put things in place to sell his weapons to the ultimate terrorist organization. However, before he could sell the technology, Cross knew he had to perfect it.[1]
Quietly furious, Cross then sought out Frank, the guest who had questioned him in the Pym Technologies meeting, finding him in the bathroom, where Cross greeted Frank and presented himself as friendly and understanding despite Frank's concerns over the design of the Yellowjacket Suit. As Cross handed over a paper towel for Frank to wash his hands, they discussed the laws of man which Cross was breaking with his work with Pym Particles.
Cross, however, was not fazed over the questioning and argued that his work had transcended the laws of nature itself, which was his own twisted excuse to continue his work. When Frank handed Cross the used paper towel and continued to question Cross' work, claiming he did not understand the consequences of what he was doing, Cross shot him with a Shrink Gun that contained the unstable Pym Particles which Cross had been experimenting with, causing his body to shrink and collapse into itself, leaving nothing more a tiny gooey blob lying on the floor in front of the calm Cross.
Cross washes his hands after the murder
Calmly noting that his scientists still had not fixed all the bugs in the technology, which is why the gun killed Frank rather than shrinking him, Cross wiped away the mess and flushed it down the toilet without a second thought. Cross then returned to the sink and washed his hands, removing all evidence of Frank's murder and his connection to it, knowing that nobody would ever discover his remains and therefore Cross could now continue his experiments without anybody questioning his own unique methods.[1]
"Gratitude can be forgiveness. I spent years carrying around my anger for Hank Pym. I devoted my genius to him. I couldâve worked anywhere. I chose my mentor poorly. You didn't even have a choice. He never believed in you. It's a shame what we had to do, but he forced us to do it."
Viewing the Yellowjacket Suit presentation to have been a success due to his deal with Mitchell Carson, Cross invited Hope van Dyne out to dinner with him to celebrate. There, Cross discussed his fractured relationship with Hank Pym and they toasted to Cross' impressive success in finally completing his experiments with van Dyne telling him that he deserved everything that was coming to him.[1]
"Commence experiment 34C, organic atomic reduction." "Darren, maybe we should thinkâŠ" "Shrinking organic tissue is the centerpiece of this technology. I canât go to the buyers with half a breakthrough."
With Hope van Dyne by his side, Cross continued his experiments to try to perfect his version of the Pym Particles in order to ensure that his design of the Yellowjacket Suit was finally ready to be sold to his new buyer, Mitchell Carson, by bringing in lambs to act as his test subjects, despite promising van Dyne that they would be using rats. The experiments continued to be a failure, with each shot of Pym Particles reducing the lambs into nothing but a tiny bloody mess on the floor.
Cross finally perfects his technology
Cross refused to give up, however, and continued bringing in test subjects for hours on end and forcing his staff to work long hours, with one after the other being instantly killed when coming into contact with the unstable Pym Particles. Eventually, one of the tests finally proved successful when the lamb was reduced in size and stayed alive in a small glass container. Delighted, Cross picked up the container and gave it a gentle flick, knocking the lamb off-balance before he began smiling maniacally at his success.[1]
"Pym Tech, the company you created, is about to become one of the most profitable operations in the world. Weâre anticipating fifteen billion in sales tomorrow alone. Youâre welcome. I know this is odd, but Iâd like you to be there. This is my moment, I want you to see it." "Sure, Darren. Yeah, sure. Iâll be there."
Cross traveled to the Pym Residence with the intent of killing Pym after he told his former mentor of his success. When he arrived, he found the door unlocked and overheard Pym speaking to Hope van Dyne and Scott Lang before discovering plans throughout the house for what appeared to be an elaborate heist into Pym Technologies to steal the Yellowjacket Suit. Before Cross could study these plans further, he was interrupted by Hank Pym. Not wishing to raise suspicion, Cross greeted his friend warmly and invited him to the presentation of the Yellowjacket as Cross' greatest achievement, to which Pym reluctantly accepted.
As Cross drove home, he phoned van Dyne in an attempt to ward off suspicions of his discovery and told her that he had just seen Pym, asking her where she was, to which she lied and claimed to be at her home. In an attempt to sabotage Pym's heist plans, he then ordered her to increase security at Pym Technologies ahead of the Yellowjacket Suit presentation; she reluctantly agreed, which caused a major problem for the heist. Cross told van Dyne that he was lucky to have her, despite knowing of her betrayal.[1]
"Oh, I'll sell them the Yellowjacket, but I'm keeping the particles to myself. They don't run on diesel. If you want the fuel you'll have to come to me. What do you call the only man who can arm the most powerful weapon in the world?" "The most powerful man in the world."
As the day arrived to present the Yellowjacket Suit to his investors, Cross found Hope van Dyne walking through the Pym Technologies corridors where she had been sabotaging the inner workings of the building ready for the heist. Not wishing to let Van Dyne believe he was aware of her plans, Cross smiled and asked her opinion on his suit before they set off to greet their guests arriving for the presentation.
When Hank Pym arrived at the facility as requested, Cross happily invited him into the presentation room for a private discussion about their work as Pym congratulated him on his success. As Cross went through the security checks, Pym noted that he may have overdone things, but Cross said with a smile that he could never be too careful. Once Cross, Pym, and van Dyne were alone in the presentation room, Cross' bodyguards held them at gunpoint and Cross revealed that he had known all along of Pym's plans.
He then waited for Ant-Man to dive into the glass case to steal the Yellowjacket Suit and trapped him inside, removing the suit beforehand while mocking Ant-Man for his failure. They were then joined by Mitchell Carson, whom Cross introduced as the representative from HYDRA. Pym attempted to convince Cross not to sell the suit to them, but Cross refused to listen and threatened to kill Pym. However, Ant-Man was able to break free; he and Van Dyne began fighting Cross' guards, but Cross managed to shoot Pym.
As Ant-Man and van Dyne ran to the bleeding Pym's aid, Cross stepped behind Ant-Man and placed his gun to his head, threatening to kill him if he did not remove the Ant-Man Suit immediately, to the point of even promising that he was willing to pull it off his corpse. However, before Cross could pull the trigger, he noticed that a group of ants had begun crawling up his arm and biting into his skin, causing him incredible pain. Unable to fire the gun, Cross ran out of the room while leaving Pym, Ant-Man and van Dyne behind.
While Carson escaped with the Pym Particles and the money, Cross ran to his guards while ripping ants off his skin. As he held one final ant between his fingers and slowly crushed it to death, the furious Cross demanded that a helicopter be brought to the roof immediately so he could escape. He then left two guards behind and ordered them to kill anyone who stepped out of the room without mercy before leaving to get on board the helicopter so he would not be arrested by the police that had gathered outside.[1]
Cross took the Yellowjacket Suit in his suitcase and made his way to his helicopter on the roof, screaming at the pilot to leave as soon as possible, knowing that his deal with HYDRA and Mitchell Carson was clearly finished. As he began to escape, Cross witnessed a swarm of flying ants coming towards him, led by Ant-Man. Cross then began firing his gun wildly in an attempt to kill Ant-Man but only succeeded in killing one of the ants carrying Ant-Man while he continued to bellow at the pilot to take off.
Cross watches all his work being destroyed
This only served to anger Ant-Man, who had managed to get on board the helicopter and knock out Cross' guards. However, Cross managed to kick Ant-Man outside of the helicopter, but he just held on by grabbing the seatbelt. Cross continued to taunt Ant-Man for attempting to stop all his plans with a heist, to which Ant-Man clarified that he and Hank Pym had never planned just a heist, which confused Cross and caused him to look on the Pym Technologies Headquarters. Cross watched in horror as Cross Technologies, along with his Yellowjacket research, was destroyed by the explosives Ant-Man had put in.
With no other choices remaining and all his plans ruined, Cross was forced to put on the Yellowjacket Suit himself as he then prepared to fight Ant-Man on his own terms. As Ant-Man pulled himself back inside the helicopter, Yellowjacket charged the laser on his suit and prepared to execute Ant-Man, only for Ant-Man to shrink again and dodge all the blasts as the enraged Yellowjacket continued firing upon him without any regard for his surroundings and only desiring to kill the Ant-Man. When Ant-Man managed to hit Yellowjacket in the face, it did almost no damage but only managed to anger Yellowjacket even more.
Finding himself at some disadvantage fighting against the almost invisible Ant-Man, Yellowjacket reacted by shrinking himself down to size and fighting Ant-Man across the helicopter, while also increasing back to size again at various points. Yellowjacket's suit proved superior to Ant-Man's due to the mounted cannons on the back; however, due to Ant-Man's extensive training with the Ant-Man Suit, he managed to keep Yellowjacket back throughout their fierce battle. Eventually, Yellowjacket's cannons caused so much damage to the helicopter that it was forced to crash land over the San Francisco streets below.
Yellowjacket falls out of the sky
With both pilots being killed accidentally by Yellowjacket's weapons, the helicopter span wildly out of control and both Yellowjacket and Ant-Man tumbled into Yellowjacket's suitcase and fought a battle inside. As the furious Yellowjacket screamed and cursed at Ant-Man, his phone mistakenly heard his cries and played Disintegration by The Cure while they dodged the various keys and travel sweets that they each threw at one another as they continued to try to kill the other, all the while with Yellowjacket continuing to fire his cannons at Ant-Man, causing a lot of destruction within the small briefcase.
Yellowjacket threatens to kill a family
The suitcase that contained the pair eventually landed inside a highly confused family's swimming pool. Yellowjacket regained his size first and began moving towards the utterly horrified family. When the mother attempted to call the San Francisco Police Department, Yellowjacket used his cannon to destroy her phone before threatening to slaughter them all in his violent rage. Ant-Man, however, launched himself out of the pool to defend them, transforming himself from small to large to land the best impact against Yellowjacket as he delivered a powerful punch that launched Yellowjacket through a wall.
Yellowjacket and Ant-Man's fight then continued inside the house, as they battled on a glass table until Yellowjacket managed to gain the upper hand against his enemy and kicked Ant-Man back outside of the house, causing him to crash land on top of the barbecue and return to his original large size once again. At the end of their brief confrontation, Ant-Man managed to use a ping-pong paddle he discovered to smash Yellowjacket as he attempted to attack him, causing Yellowjacket to be thrown into a bug-zapper, seemingly overcharging the suit and killing him, ending the fight for the time being.
Yellowjacket is electrocuted by bug zapper
However, while Ant-Man was mistakenly being arrested by Jim Paxton and Gale who were unaware of the situation, Yellowjacket was electrocuted from within the bug-zapper screaming insanely which caused him incredible agony. With his suit burnt and his body wounded, the now furious and highly unstable Yellowjacket began seeking some kind of sadistic revenge against those who destroyed his plans, starting by taking everything away from Ant-Man after which he would then seek out Pym and Hope van Dyne.[1]
Yellowjacket traveled to the home of Maggie Lang and took their daughter Cassie Lang hostage, waiting for her father to come to rescue her. It did not take long for Ant-Man to arrive and confront Yellowjacket as the pair engaged in a brutal miniature fight on Cassie's toy train-tracks, throwing sections of the train at each other. Ant-Man called for reinforcements from his army of Ants who attacked Yellowjacket, before Ant-Man was able to throw him into the train tracks, causing him to be run over by Cassie's little Thomas the Tank Engine toy.
Ant-Man attempted to shrink and sabotage Yellowjacket's suit. However, he discovered the mainframe on the Yellowjacket suit was encased with a shell of titanium, which could not be penetrated unless the Ant-Man Suit's regulator was deactivated; this put Ant-Man in danger of shrinking indefinitely. Frustrated by his inability to kill Ant-Man during their fight, Yellowjacket then attempted to attack Cassie while she was being protected by Jim Paxton. Although Paxton attempted to shoot Yellowjacket, he was quickly disarmed by one of the suit's arms, leaving him and Cassie defenseless against him and his technology.
As Yellowjacket prepared to murder the innocent family simply to torment his foe and gain a victory in this fight, Ant-Man was left with no choice but to turn off his suit's regulator and sacrifice himself by shrinking into the Yellowjacket Suit and damaging its internal mainframe. Yellowjacket screamed in horrific pain one last time before the suit then collapsed into itself, smashing the glass in his helmet, mangling his limbs, and crushing him to subatomic size.[1]
"You left Darren to die in the Quantum Realm. But the Conqueror found me. Rebuilt me. Made me the ultimate weapon. A Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing."
Despite Cross' violent shrinking, he did not die. Instead, Cross was stranded in the Quantum Realm. Due to the instability of his Yellowjacket Suit, Cross' head was enlarged to a massive size and melded with his torso. Eventually, Kang the Conqueror found the battered Cross and decided to make him into a living weapon.
Cross undergoes the change into M.O.D.O.K.
Cross underwent a great deal of pain, as he was implanted into the Doomsday Chair. Over the next decade, Cross would operate as Kang's personal enforcer, dubbed the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, or M.O.D.O.K. for short. During this time, M.O.D.O.K. would be forced to try and appease Kang, usually by staying silent in Kang's presence. However, M.O.D.O.K. felt grateful to Kang and loyally served him as he was sent to hunt down the Freedom Fighters, and was given the chance to create more than he could previously.[2]
In 2026, M.O.D.O.K. intercepted a signal coming from a Quantum Satellite built by Cassie Lang. Upon Kang the Conqueror's orders, M.O.D.O.K. used the signal to create a portal that sucked Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne into the Quantum Realm. M.O.D.O.K. was sent to retrieve Scott and Cassie, so he tracked them to a resistance camp, where he used Kang's army to ambush the camp until he cornered Scott and Cassie.
While masked, M.O.D.O.K. welcomed Scott back to the Quantum Realm and told him that he could not escape his destiny, claiming that their fates had been forged together ever since they met in 2015. Scott then realized who M.O.D.O.K. was, so he removed his mask and stated that he had become the ultimate weapon. A scared Cassie remembered him as Yellowjacket, while he commented on how he almost did not recognize her. When Scott called him Darren, he fired a laser at them in anger, telling them that Darren was dead and that he was M.O.D.O.K. M.O.D.O.K. then informed the two that Kang the Conqueror needed them, and he took them prisoner.
M.O.D.O.K. reveals what happened to him
M.O.D.O.K. visited Scott and Cassie in their cells, and they asked him to explain how he ended up the way he was after their fight. M.O.D.O.K. detailed how after being left stranded and severely disfigured in the Quantum Realm, he was found by Kang, who gifted him with the Doomsday Chair, turning him into a weapon. Scott interrupted the story, having realized his name was an acronym, remarking that it should really be M.O.D.O.F.K.. After being teased about his tiny legs, M.O.D.O.K. yelled at Scott for ruining his life, and claimed that he was now free working for Kang.[2]
When Kang the Conqueror arrived to enlist Ant-Man with stealing the Multiversal Engine Core, M.O.D.O.K. noted how he had stolen from him before. However, Kang immediately used his powers to force M.O.D.O.K. against the wall, telling him to never speak when he was in the room.
As Kang continued to speak with Ant-Man, M.O.D.O.K. cowered in silence. Once Ant-Man agreed to help Kang, M.O.D.O.K. followed them through a portal to the Core's location. M.O.D.O.K. instructed Ant-Man that he would need to shrink the Core down to size, and warned him about staying in there too long, as it would damage his mind. Once inside, Ant-Man contacted M.O.D.O.K., but he would not respond to being called Darren. Ant-Man asked for guidance, but M.O.D.O.K. just told him to not die. When Ant-Man duplicated himself, M.O.D.O.K. explained it was because he was in a Probability Storm.[2]
Discovering that Stature had broken free from her imprisonment and incited a large-scale rebellion against Kang the Conqueror, M.O.D.O.K. was ordered to find and kill her. M.O.D.O.K. soon tracked Stature to the cells and began firing at her, so she started running away from him.
The chase led them outside, where M.O.D.O.K. cornered Stature, telling her that her father was not able to save her. However, at that moment, they both felt large booms approaching, so they turned around to see Ant-Man in giant form headed their way. M.O.D.O.K. was surprised at the size of Ant-Man. While distracted, Stature escaped from M.O.D.O.K. by shrinking down. M.O.D.O.K. was able to find Stature, and as he honed in on her, Stature grew to giant form and punched M.O.D.O.K. in the face.
M.O.D.O.K. was sent flying from the impact of the hit, but managed to get back up and flew back at Stature. He fired a grapple at her, but Stature grabbed onto it and used it to swing M.O.D.O.K. into the ground multiple times until he was defeated. As Stature went to leave, M.O.D.O.K. tried to keep the fight going, so she returned and told him to stop and try be something else, but he did not know what else to be. Seeing that M.O.D.O.K. was lost inside, Stature appealed to him by telling him to not be a dick. M.O.D.O.K. felt that it was too late for him, but she assured him it was never too late.[2]
Choosing to take on Cassie Lang's suggestion, M.O.D.O.K. joined in the uprising against Kang the Conqueror's Empire. Kang was being attacked by ants, but they could not break through his shield, so M.O.D.O.K. decided to help, charging straight into the shield. As M.O.D.O.K. declared that he was Darren, he used the Doomsday Chair's weapons to destroy the shield.
This allowed the ants to overwhelm Kang and take him away, but it came at the cost of M.O.D.O.K. being mortally wounded. As he laid dying, M.O.D.O.K. told Cassie that she was right about him. M.O.D.O.K. was surrounded by Cassie, Scott Lang, Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne, who he commented on changing her hair. M.O.D.O.K. looked upon Scott fondly and told him that he was like a brother to him, which confused everyone. In his final moment, M.O.D.O.K. believed that his actions made him an Avenger and he then died.[2]
Personality[]
"The process is highly volatile. If one isn't protected by a specialized helmet, it can affect the brain's chemistry. I don't think Darren realizes this, and, you know, he's not the most stable guy to begin with."
Darren Cross was an extremely cruel and ruthless businessman who was willing to use Hank Pym's Pym Particles as a weapon. He was a man who believed that his ends justified the means and would easily attempt to use anything in order to gain his final goal of miniaturizing organic matter, including using lambs to shrink even if the end result was a failure and once this was accomplished Cross had no qualms about flicking the successfully shrunk lamb in its container as a mere plaything. He 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.
Cross had 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.
Doomsday Chair Capabilities: After his final battle as Yellowjacket resulted in Cross' body being heavily altered, Kang the Conqueror would implant Cross in the Doomsday Chair. This gifted Cross the ability to levitate around and use a variety of weapons the chair could create a variety of Weapons.
Superhuman Durability: The Doomsday Chair was able to take a lot of damage before Cross would be in immense danger. It only took a stomp from an enlarged Stature and Kang's powers to damage the Chair and kill Cross.
Superhuman Speed: Due to the Doomsday Chair's thrusters, Cross was able to go as fast as he needed.
Flight: To help Cross, move around with his enlarged head, the Doomsday Chair allows Cross to hover or fly at whatever heights he needed.
Weapon Creation: The Doomsday Chair allowed Cross to make and summon weapons, including lasers, rocket launchers, and energy buzzsaws.
Energy Blast: The Doomsday Chair's weapons and center device on Cross' forehead allowed Cross to fire a variety of energy blasts.
Former Powers[]
"The Yellowjacket is an all-purpose weapon of war capable of altering the size of the wearer for the ultimate combat advantage!"
Yellowjacket Suit Capabilities: Cross was inspired by the legend of the Ant-Man and pushed himself to great lengths in order to create a suit that possessed similar capabilities including the primary capability, shrinking. However, he created the suit in an attempt to get the most money out of it, not to save anyone.
Size Manipulation:
Yellowjacket shrinking down into small size
Using the original Ant-Man Suit and Pym Particles formula as a template, Yellowjacket could reduce approximately to the size of an ant. He also still maintained his regular-sized strength and durability when shrinking due to increased density and compressed energy and physical force caused by size transformation.
Superhuman Strength: The suit granted Yellowjacket superhuman strength, even while shrunk as well. This is thought to be due to Pym Particles enhancing the density and compressing energy and physical force to the user, giving him the power of a bullet. In the case of the Yellowjacket suit, its mechanisms may have been able to enhance physical strength and resilience, even in human size, he was almost able to crush Ant-Man between his hands while Ant-Man was in shrunken form. Though Ant-Man in normal size was able to take on Yellowjacket while the latter was in the Yellowjacket suit. In addition, the suit's mechanized stingers could be used as melee weapons, which Yellowjacket used to knock Paxton's gun out of his hand and to help him grab Ant-Man into order to hurl him through the air.
Superhuman Durability: The Yellowjacket Suit was lined with very durable material as well, making it more of an armor rather than a suit that could withstand many attacks.
Superhuman Speed: With a flight system, Yellowjacket could fly at immense speeds. This speed was fast enough to fly from a random person's house to Jim Paxton's House in minutes.
Flight: Yellowjacket had the power of flight through highly advanced jets installed in the backward of the suit. The two top tentacle-like 'stingers' on the suit's back had exterior thrusters at the bottom of the tentacle that allowed him to levitate and move forward with its propulsion.
The suit had four mechanical tentacle-like 'stingers' on the back, the bottom pair of which could form shoulder weapons and direct energy weapons, which could fire intense energy blasts. The energy beams were blue and laser-like, burning through objects and, when Yellowjacket was in a small size, he could easily kill targets, much like bullets. When in normal size, the larger beams could easily burn through and destroy objects as large and as thick as a wall.
Abilities[]
"After graduating from MIT at 20 years old as valedictorian, correct?" "Well, they don't draft the stupid kids first."
Genius-Level Intellect: Cross graduated from MIT at only twenty years old as valedictorian and was impressive enough to be recruited by genius Hank Pym to work for him. He used his intellect to create the Yellowjacket Suit based off of the original Ant-Man Suit's design. After becoming M.O.D.O.K., Cross' brain was enlarged and later merged with the Doomsday Chair to further boost Cross' intellect for Kang's purposes.
"Gotta hand it to you, Darren. You really did it." "And you only know the half of it, Hank."
Cross was recruited by Hank Pym to work at his company, Pym Technologies as his personal assistant and one of the lead scientists. He was able to successfully recreate his own Pym Particles, known as Cross Particles.
Master Engineer: Cross was a highly skilled engineer, being able to replicate Hank Pym's Ant-Man Suit, and managed to create his own version, the Yellowjacket Suit.
"Since you took the reins at Pym Tech, it has become highly profitable." "And we're very proud of that."
Cross was able to oust Pym from Pym Technologies and become its leader, progressing it to the point where it became a rival for Stark Industries. Though the company had not presented a product in some time, Cross assured, in an interview,[3] that its shareholders were satisfied. He invited many high-profile companies to his presentation of the Yellowjacket Suit to try to get as many investments as he could.
Expert Marksman: Cross was skilled enough with a gun to shoot the ant that was carrying Ant-Man and was flying at him. He also could shoot his stinger, and later Doomsday Chair weapons, energy blasts with great accuracy.
Equipment[]
Weapons[]
Glock 17: Cross took one of these guns from one of his security guards, with the intention of personally killing Hank Pym. Due to Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne's intervention, Cross was unable to kill him, but he still managed to shoot Pym in the shoulder. A group of Ants disabled Cross' gun, and he was forced to discard it.
Shrink Gun: As Cross tried to create a new form of the Pym Particles, he failed to shrink a living body. However, he weaponized it to the shrink gun, able to kill living beings by condensing their tissue into a tiny puddle of protein substance. Cross used it on Frank when the latter protested about selling the Yellowjacket Suit and the Pym Particles.
Other Equipment[]
Yellowjacket Suit: Cross initially intended to sell and manufacture more of the Yellowjacket suit to the military and to shady organizations such as HYDRA. However, his efforts were sabotaged by Hank Pym, Hope van Dyne, and Ant-Man, and Cross decided to don the suit to kill Ant-Man out of revenge. Their fight eventually spanned from the Pym Technologies Headquarters to Jim Paxton's House when Yellowjacket decided to take Ant-Man's daughter Cassie Lang hostage. The fight ended when Ant-Man went subatomic and seemingly destroyed the Yellowjacket suit from the inside.
Helmet: Cross, after becoming M.O.D.O.K., wore a robotic helmet over his large head, and to cover his face while moving fast on the Doomsday Chair.
Vehicles[]
Doomsday Chair: After Cross' defeat led to him having a large head, he needed the Doomsday Chair for transport, and assist him with his missions.
Facilities[]
Pym Technologies Headquarters: Cross took over for Hank Pym and ran him out of his own incorporation, despite the fact that Pym taught him everything. Cross then focused his efforts on recreating Pym Particles for money.
In the comics, Darren Cross was a technology industrialist. His heart was failing, so he murdered homeless people and took their hearts to keep himself alive. Scott Lang fought Cross when he kidnapped Erica Sondheim, the only person who could cure Cassie Lang. When Lang and Cross fought, Cross died of a massive coronary.
Yellowjacket is one of the many heroic identities taken by Hank Pym in the comics. During his first time donning the Yellowjacket suit, Hank Pym's mental state greatly suffered due to the Pym particles affecting his brain chemistry.
In response to his introduction in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was resurrected and eventually took up the mantle of Yellowjacket.
In the comics, George Tarleton was a technician working for A.I.M. who was mutated into the highly intelligent M.O.D.O.C. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Computing), but his transformation turned him mad, and he subsequently changed his name to M.O.D.O.K. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing).
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. showrunners originally planned to introduce M.O.D.O.K. in the series' final season, but the idea was shut down by Marvel Studios despite the showrunners having initially been given permission.[9]
WHiH Newsfront | Episode 1.04: WIRED Insider Interviews Darren Cross, CEO of Pym Technologies
Ant-Man
Look Out for the Little Guy! (mentioned)
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
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