Aimee Garcia Lands Role as Original Latina Character in Marvel’s ‘Modok’
A Latina actress is entering the Marvel universe in an original role and it’s even more exciting considering Latinx representation in TV and film remains limited
Photo: Wiki Commons:Mingle MediaTV/Marvel
A Latina actress is entering the Marvel universe in an original role and it’s even more exciting considering Latinx representation in TV and film remains limited. It was recently announced that Mexican-Puerto Rican actress Aimee Garcia, from the George Lopez Show, Dexter, and Lucifer, took on a starring role in Marvel’s MODOK. The adult animated stop-motion series follows MODOK (Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing) — a supervillain megalomaniac voiced by Patton Oswalt with a giant head, tiny arms and legs, and a floating chair. In a twisted depiction of work-life balance the show follows his struggles to maintain his evildoing after the business is bought by a tech company along with the demands of his family. That family includes his wife Jodie, voiced by Garcia, who is a successful mommy blogger and begins to see his shortcomings and asks for a divorce to start a new path in life.
“Proud to portray a Latina in @marvel universe,” Garcia posted on Instagram, later sharing a photo of her character’s trading card, adding, “When you originate a Latina character & she gets her own @marvel Supervillain trading card!!!”
Garcia is no stranger to playing a strong Latina character having played Ella Lopez on Lucifer, who was a scientist and, she told Looper, was likely at one point the only Latina scientist character out of roughly 200 shows on air at that time. When asked by Looper if she saw any similarities between both characters, she calls them both “trailblazers.” “With Jodie being an originated Latina character in the Marvel Universe and an independent woman who finds her career later in life after she’s become a mom. In animation, I don’t think we see that often.”
The focus on dysfunction is part of what intrigued Garcia and showcases a hint of real-life in a fantasy world. She describes them to ComicBook.com as a “bionic dysfunctional family that has a Latina character and a Jewish character and this unlikely couple of, you know, a feisty Latina and then an evil destroyer of the world together but it kind of works, and they’re sweet.”
Having a Latina not only play a Latina character in the Marvel universe but having her originate the role is a unique opportunity and one we’re so excited about. The series premiered on Hulu May 21 and is available to stream. For Garcia, who is a Marvel fan, this is no doubt going to be one of her key roles as she goes down in history for being the original Jodie.
“I felt very honored to originate a Latina character in the Marvel Universe. I’m a big Marvel fan and just to be a part of it was a dream come true,” she told Looper.
