Warning! This article contains spoilers for Savage Avengers #28
Two of Marvel Comics' ancient warriors who would otherwise have nothing in common other than their barbaric pasts have been connected by Kang the Conqueror. Apocalypse and Conan the Barbarian couldn’t be more different as solo characters in terms of the men they each evolved into. Apocalypse merged himself with Celestial technology and became the blue/robotic X-Men villain fans were first introduced to. Conan, on the other hand, never evolved past brute force and trusty steel while in combat. Now, the two most unlikely ancient warriors are forever connected because of the timeline interference of Kang the Conqueror.
In Savage Avengers #28 by Gerry Duggan and Patch Zircher, Conan's training the young Kulan Gath, a sorcerer who the team just vanquished, before he became a sorcerer. Conan is training him in combat to ensure he will never grow up to be the evil wizard the Savage Avengers fought in the future. During their training, Kang the Conqueror went back in time to visit them, feigning concern when really he was just waiting for Kulan’s training to be complete so he could kill the barbarian. Conan realized this was the case and attacked Kang, sparking a brutal rivalry between the Sci-Fi villain and the High Fantasy protagonist.
Conan isn’t alone in being arch rivals with Kang the Conqueror, as Apocalypse also shares that particular pleasure. In the comic series Rise of Apocalypse, Apocalypse is shown as a young mutant in ancient Egypt fighting for his life against a tyrannical pharaoh who effectively destroyed everything good about Apocalypse's life. That pharoah’s name was Rama-Tut otherwise known as Kang the Conqueror. Since then, Apocalypse has been the sworn enemy of Kang just as Conan the Barbarian is after Kang betrayed him during their Savage Avengers crusade.
While this connection is the first time Conan and Apocalypse have ever been directly linked, the two are more alike than they initially seem. Conan is a wandering warrior who vanquishes any threat that may stand before him. As a young man, Apocalypse was almost exactly the same character but with a more villainous agenda. Centuries ago, before Apocalypse merged with Celestial tech and became the character fans are more familiar with, Apocalypse was much like Conan in both looks and actions, proving himself to be the fiercest warrior and greatest conqueror the world had ever seen.
While Apocalypse traveled the world taking lands and kingdoms, he was still around much later than Conan so the two warriors never had the honor of crossing swords with one another. However, because of Kang the Conqueror, the two share more than just an equally barbaric past. Kang the Conqueror connects Marvel’s most unlikely ancient warriors, Conan the Barbarian and Apocalypse, by becoming the main villain of them both.