Kang's MCU Powers Risk Repeating A Thanos Plot Too Soon

Kang the Conqueror will be the next big bad in the MCU, but his powers suggest that Marvel might be repeating a Thanos storyline too soon. The Multiverse Saga has seen a great deal of change with Marvel Studios' storytelling, much of which has seen mixed responses. But while Kang's backstory will be delved into further in future films, including Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the current information that has been revealed indicates the antagonist will have many similarities to the Mad Titan Thanos.

In the comics, Nathaniel Richards' Kang gets powers from his armor. Based off the recent Quantumania trailer, this might be the case in the MCU as well. Kang the Conqueror is a powerful threat, so the Multiverse Saga's main villain will certainly be compared to the Infinity Saga's Thanos. With the pair inevitably set to be compared, the MCU will have to be careful to avoid the villains having their respective storylines come too closely together due to Kang's armor, which may require refraining from sticking to Kang's exact origins, particularly if he is at his strongest with a weapon.

How The MCU's Kang Story Could Be Similar To Thanos

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Beyond the fact that Kang will be the MCU's next Thanos level threat, the two Marvel villains already have various similarities that may need to be carefully avoided when it comes to the big screen. While his powers haven't been properly displayed onscreen yet, Kang the Conqueror could be more powerful than Thanos due to what his variant He Who Remains explained in Loki. Kang has surfaced in the Marvel Universe for "a million lifetimes", and he paved the way for how various storylines in the MCU played out. He will always be one step ahead of his enemies and isn't afraid to kill anyone that stands in his way. But like Thanos, he ultimately has strong motivations for what he is doing.

However, the most crucial aspect that could make the two similar is their reliance on tools. Much as Thanos needed the Infinity Gauntlet for his plan, if Kang needs his custom suit for his own machinations, this could lead to a plot surrounding the hero team having to work out how to neutralize his armor that would have strong parallels to them working to get the Infinity Gauntlet from Thanos. This could risk audiences feeling Kang's plot repeats the premise of the iconic prior MCU villain.

On a similar note, trailer footage from San Diego Comic Con revealed that Kang needs Ant-Man's help in stealing something that belongs to him. While it's currently unknown what that is, it could potentially be a weapon that could help him conquer the Multiverse. Thanos needed to use the Infinity Gauntlet to accomplish his mission in erasing half of all life, so Kang using a weapon as well would frame his plan close to the Mad Titan's.

Kang's Thanos Plot Similarity Highlights A Key MCU Problem

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A problem throughout the MCU is that many antagonists end up similar in some regard, either in premise, characterization, or plot line. As time progresses, some of these paths will inevitably retread, as plenty of comic villains have shared elements inherent within them. Phase 4 may have featured a lot more originality, but it also still suffered from familiar plot beats that had been seen before in previous films. Kang the Conqueror and Thanos will have to be almost entirely different from each other in order to stand out separately, especially as figureheads of their respective sagas.

What will help Kang the Conqueror feel like a different big bad from Thanos is that Marvel Studios has planned out these storylines for years, and as such has had time to make sure that Kang feel completely distinct from the previous MCU antagonist. Kang could be a better villain than Thanos because of this, in that he enters into a franchise where a major saga villain has already gotten the audience to find bigger villains seriously imposing - so he only needs to meet that perception. Given that he was unfazed by coming across an Avenger and asked Ant-Man if he had killed him before, it seems Kang the Conqueror will easily match up to these expectations.

Next: How Powerful Every Upcoming MCU Villain Is Compared To Thanos