Marvel's What If...? has set up the Watcher as Kang the Conqueror's true nemesis is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Set up in Avengers: Endgame, the multiverse finally exploded into existence in Loki. When Loki and Sylvie finally pulled back the curtain on the Time Variance Authority, they discovered it had been established by a being called He Who Remains - the last Kang standing in the multiversal war. He Who Remains had secured his powerbase by having the TVA prune branching timelines before further variants had been created; but when Sylvie killed him, the multiverse sprang into being once again, and the result was inevitable.

Played by Jonathan Major, Kang the Conqueror is expected to be one of the greatest villains of the MCU's Phase 4. In the comics, Kang is typically portrayed as a warlord from the 30th century who has crossed his own timeline on countless occasions; supremely confident in his own superiority, Kang is determined to conquer all that is, was, and ever will be. The story of the MCU's Phase 4 looks set to be a gradual reignition of the multiversal war between different variants of Kang, as they come into contact with one another and each seek to prove themselves better than all the rest. Loki has always reveled in chaos, but when Sylvie killed He Who Remains she outdid herself.

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But Marvel's What If...? has set up a rival to the various Kangs - the Watcher. The comic book version of the Watcher is an observer who has sworn not to interfere, and who tends to turn up at moments of cosmic importance - a neat way of sidestepping his oath, because of course his mere presence clues superheroes in on the significance of current events. The MCU's Watcher was initially the same, having sworn a sacred oath of non-intervention, but he set this aside in What If...? episode 9 when the entire multiverse was threatened by Ultron. What's more, he shows no signs of returning to his former ways, instead dubbing himself the "Protector of the Multiverse" and deliberately allowing the Guardians of the Multiverse to retain memories of multiversal events so he could call on them again.

Uatu the Watcher using his powers in What If...?

This sets Kang the Conqueror and the Watcher up as rival forces. On the one hand, the various Kangs will no doubt cause havoc across the entire multiverses, obliterating entire timelines in order to destroy one another; should one variant triumph, they can only secure their victory by enacting a plan similar to that of He Who Remains, pruning the multiverse down until theirs is the only remaining timeline. In contrast, the Watcher has sworn to himself that he will protect the MCU's multiverse; he will not be pleased to see entire branches cut off, let alone to realize there is a danger of the multiverse being reduced to one timeline again. The Watcher stands in opposition to everything the various Kangs will attempt to do - and he possesses the power and vision to stop them, unlike the Avengers, who can only ever react to the Kangs.

It's gradually becoming clear that every Marvel Disney+ TV series has certain things they need to do, check-boxes that need to be ticked so they can play their part in the MCU's overarching narrative. In the case of What If...?, the Watcher's character journey - transforming him from observer to protector - appears to have been the core concept, and now it has been done he has been positioned as a true force to be reckoned with in the MCU.

More: How What If Season 1 Impacts The MCU Timeline (& Upcoming Movies)

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