Marvel is running the risk of wasting its best Thanos replacement option by putting Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3. It was recently reported that Marvel has cast Lovecraft Country actor Jonathan Majors as Kang in Scott Lang’s third solo film.

This is huge casting news, considering that Kang the Conqueror is an incredibly important villain with a ton of history in Marvel Comics with both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. The fact that he’s a time-traveler from the future raises questions about what Ant-Man 3’s story will entail, and how heavily it’ll lean on the Quantum Realm. Kang’s inclusion implies that Ant-Man 3 may be a movie about time travel, a concept that was introduced into the MCU in Avengers: Endgame thanks to Hank Pym’s Pym Particles. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) will be faced with a challenging adversary indeed if it’s true that Kang will be appearing as the villain in Ant-Man 3.

Related: Marvel Phase 5: How Kang The Conqueror Will Change The MCU

Kang the Conqueror is one of many characters that fans have wondered about for a while now. For years, a Kang appearance in an MCU movie wasn’t even a remote possibility, due to his rights being owned by Fox. However, the situation with Kang changed when Marvel bought Fox’s movie and TV assets. Kang was among the characters reacquired by Marvel when it got the Fantastic Four property back. Now, Marvel is free to use the time-travelling villain as it pleases. His return to Marvel happened at just the right time too, since Marvel just completed the Infinity Saga. With Thanos dead, a new powerful villain could soon take his place. A strong candidate for this role is Kang the Conqueror, but his presence in Ant-Man 3 could mean that Marvel has different plans for him.

Kang the Conqueror Is One Of Marvel Comics' Best Villains

Kang the Conqueror in Marvel Comics

Over the years, Kang the Conqueror has earned his place among Thanos, Ultron, and Doctor Doom as one of the greatest villains in Marvel Comics. In 1963, he first appeared in a Fantastic Four comic as Rama-Tut, a time-traveler from the future who traveled to the past and became the pharaoh of Egypt. A year later, The Avengers #8 reinvented him as Kang the Conqueror, a villain who fights his battles with highly advanced technology capable of subduing even Thor himself. Kang has made multiple attempts to visit the modern era and take over the Earth, but his efforts are always thwarted by the heroes of the Marvel Universe. His run-ins with the Avengers have made them his most hated enemies.

Kang is single-handedly responsible for some of the Avengers’ best stories, such as the time he and the Grandmaster used the Avengers as pawns in a game to determine the fate of the universe. In the 1980s storyline, “The Once and Future Kang”, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were drawn into the realm of Limbo and had to contend with various versions of Kang, each of which being from an alternate timeline. In Avengers Forever, a good version of Kang recruited a group of heroes from different points in the timeline and brought them together for a battle with the true Kang. In short, he has delivered some of the wildest and most interesting plotlines in Avengers history. Kang is more than just an Avengers villain, though. He’s also a major antagonist of the Fantastic Four. Kang and Marvel’s First Family have had a number of memorable clashes. There was also a time where it took both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers to take him down.

Kang Should Be The Next Major Villain After Thanos

Kang The Conqueror prepares to attack in Marvel Comics.

Thanos left big shoes to fill when he fell to the Avengers in Endgame. If any character in the MCU is going to succeed him, it should be Kang the Conqueror. Kang being a time-traveler fits with where the MCU is currently headed. Like Thanos, Kang can have an extended presence in the MCU as a character who pulls the strings behind a lot of the conflicts that unfold in the upcoming movies. And then finally, Kang can emerge and force the heroes to unite against him.

Related: MCU Theory: How Ant-Man 2 Set Up Kang The Conqueror

One reason why this person should be Kang and not someone else is because of what he brings to the table. It’s important that the MCU’s next big bad feels as threatening as Thanos, but it’s just as important that he’s inherently different. Unlike the Mad Titan, Kang is a spiteful and vengeful villain with a heart hardened by hate. The MCU’s Thanos believed he was doing what was best for the universe, but Kang suffered from no such delusions. The comic book version of Kang doesn’t care about helping the world; what he wants is to rule it. Considering that Kang believes that he deserves to hold that level of power, it’s clear that Kang shares Thanos’ arrogance, but it stems from a different source. Thanos truly is incredibly powerful (even without the Infinity Stones), whereas Kang is just a mortal human equipped with an advanced intellect and superior technology.

Why Kang Shouldn’t Be Ant-Man 3’s Main Villain

Kang The Conqueror fights the Avengers in Marvel Comics.

Kang’s potential as a villain in the MCU could be hampered by his role in Ant-Man 3, depending on what it is. First of all, if Marvel has any intention of making Kang the villain of Avengers 5, it needs to handle his introduction carefully. Since Kang is far from a household name, what he really needs is a big movie that can sell him as a threat -- and Ant-Man 3 may not be the right movie for that. The Ant-Man movies have been moderate successes for Marvel and Disney, but neither was a massive blockbuster on the scale of Captain Marvel or Black Panther.

If Marvel really wants to push Kang and leave a lasting impression on audiences, Ant-Man 3 needs to be bigger and better than its predecessors. But, Marvel shouldn’t make him the main antagonist. If Kang were to be the villain who Scott Lang must overcome in the movie, Marvel may have to weaken him to a certain extent. In the comics, it takes an entire team of Avengers just to beat Kang. Sometimes, that team is supported by powerhouses like Thor and Hercules when they fight Kang, but he pushes them to their limits regardless of who’s on the roster. For Ant-Man and the Wasp to stop Kang, they’d either need a great deal of help or he would have be to downgraded. The latter option would amount to an unfortunate waste of a truly great comic book villain.

Marvel can avoid this problem by making another Marvel Comics character the movie’s real villain. Whoever this person is, he could receive help from Kang, who views him as a means to an end. This scenario would be similar to how Thanos used Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in The Avengers. This way, Ant-Man 3 can let the heroes and Kang win at the end of the day. Kang could walk away having achieved his goal, and return in a later MCU installment.

More: Endgame Theory: The Avengers' Time Travelling Created Kang The Conqueror

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