Kang’s Motivation Makes Him Thanos’ Perfect MCU Villain Successor

Kang the Conqueror's motivation for bringing peace to the universe is much different from Thanos, making him the perfect MCU villain to succeed the Titan. In the season finale of Loki, Sylvie and the God of Mischief meet He Who Remains, a non-violent variant of Kang who gives the duo a choice with very high stakes: kill him and end the Sacred Timeline, risking a second multiversal war sparked by his variants or take on the job of leading the TVA and managing the timeline. Sylvie ultimately kills He Who Remains, unleashing a multiverse with far more dangerous variants, the most dangerous of which is Kang the Conqueror.

Of course, Kang and Thanos are both dangerous, but they each have their own reasoning behind what they're doing. Thanos' motivation for bringing universal peace stemmed from being exposed to the overpopulation of his planet and depleting resources at a young age. His greatest flaw was that he believed in both himself and his mission to eliminate half the universe too much to listen to or trust others. He Who Remains, however, was so worried about the threat his variants posed that he seemingly murdered all the alternate versions of himself he could find. Unlike Thanos, he lacked trust in himself, but in turn, this makes him the perfect villain to succeed Thanos as he's a mirror for the Mad Titan.

Kang Needs To Be Thanos' Perfect MCU Opposite

Kang antman and the wasp qunatumania Thanos Avengers endgame

There's no doubt that with the six Infinity Stones, Thanos single-handedly proved to be the greatest threat the Avengers had ever faced. Kang will be the next big danger, but what's great about him is that he's not just one character, but multiple versions of the same one. Likely to be explored more in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, Kang comes to the MCU with a handful of variants—all with different abilities and personalities—making him a far more difficult enemy to take on. There may not be any heroic versions of Kang left in the multiverse, and the Avengers will likely have to worry about a multiversal threat with him, versus Thanos, who primarily invaded the Earth-616 universe.

Kang Shouldn't Be A Bigger Villain Than Thanos (Just Different)

Kang in Ant-Man 3 Kang and He Who Remains in Loki

In each of their movies and TV shows, Marvel's done a great job of adding variety to its MCU villains, and Kang is no different. They don't all fight for the same thing. While some of them want to rule the world, there are a few who simply want more power or even those that desire to eliminate their rival to boost their own ego. They each have their own backstory and reasoning for fighting for what they want, which in turn makes them far more compelling. Marvel doesn't need to make Kang a bigger villain than Thanos, but he should feel equally dangerous in an entirely different way.

What makes Kang's character so great is that there's a fine line between him being an actual villain versus an anti-hero. He Who Remains' long-term goal of wanting to protect the Sacred Timeline can be viewed as good, but the manner in which he chooses to do so is inherently evil. Marvel's already set up Kang, his variant, to be a much different Avengers villain than Thanos. He's already killed off all the alternate versions of himself and will do the same to anyone who deviates from the Sacred Timeline and becomes a variant. Ultimately, Kang the Conqueror may surpass Thanos as the MCU's top villain as the motivations for his evil plan are vastly different from the Titan.

Next: Forget Quantumania: Ant-Man Might've Already Met Kang In His First Movie