Through Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Avengers 5, the MCU can make use of two different versions of Kang the Conqueror. Played by Jonathan Majors, Kang is expected to be the main antagonist of Ant-Man’s third movie, but Marvel’s plans for him may extend far beyond that, especially since the character is so important in Marvel Comics.
In the comic books, Kang is a time-traveler from the future whose plans to conquer present-day Earth have made him an enemy of the Avengers. Due to their efforts to thwart his scheme on numerous occasions, Kang has developed a deep-seated hatred for the team and everything they stand for. His attempts to kill his oldest and greatest enemies have allowed Kang to forge a reputation as one of the Avengers’ greatest villains. As a result, his name is often spoken in the same breath as iconic Marvel Comics antagonists such as Thanos, Red Skull, and Doctor Doom. Given how integral he is to Avengers history, it was believed that he had to be in the pipeline for the MCU.
Now, it’s known that instead of fighting Earth’s Mightiest Heroes right off the bat, Kang will be brought to life first in Ant-Man 3, presumably as the villain. There’s no word on the details of his role, but it’s at least possible that the character audiences will see in the movie is just one version of the MCU’s Kang the Conqueror. Marvel could actually be saving a second -- perhaps more powerful – Kang for a different movie. Here’s how that could work, and why that could be the best plan for how to use Kang in the MCU.
Different Versions of Kang In Marvel Comics Explained
The existence of multiple iterations of Kang is a central aspect of his character in Marvel Comics. The Avengers have encountered more versions of him than any other villain in their rogues’ gallery. In the 1980s, Kang found out that his time-travel shenanigans resulted in the creation of numerous alternate timelines, each with their own version of Kang. At some point, many of them got together and formed the Council of Kangs. They were led by the “Prime Kang”, who was believed to the original, but so many timelines had been spawned by his actions that no one could really know for sure anymore who the original really was.
There are also quite a few divergent Kangs who have gone on to forge their own identities. In other words, these people are so different to him now that they stand on their own as separate Marvel Comics characters. The most important of these is Immortus, the ruler of Limbo and a major villain of both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. There’s also Iron Lad, a teenage Kang who avoided his villainous destiny by becoming a member of the Young Avengers. Another is Rama-Tut, a version of the villain who took over Egypt and came to regret the crimes he committed as Kang the Conqueror.
Loki Will Introduce The Variant Concept Into the MCU
The concepts that made so many different incarnations of Kang the Conqueror make sense in the Marvel Universe are in the process of being introduced into the MCU. During Avengers: Endgame’s time-travel mission, the 2012 Loki (Tom Hiddleston) changed his own fate by scooping up the Tesseract and disappearing. The trailers for his Disney+ series reveal that this character will be established as a “variant” of the original Loki who died at the hands of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War. It would seem that this is the term that the MCU will use for characters who exist because of time travel. Plus, the use of the phrase “this Loki variant” in the second Loki trailer hints at the possibility of multiple Loki variants, similar to how there are so many versions of Kang in Avengers comics.
Through the Time Variance Authority and Owen Wilson’s Mobius M. Mobius, Marvel is sure to expand on the MCU’s time travel rules, the existence of variants, and more. What Marvel establishes about these concepts is likely to be of great importance, particularly since Loki won’t be the MCU’s last time-travel project. At least one more, Ant-Man 3, is confirmed to be on the horizon. So whatever is learned about time-travel in Loki will lay the groundwork for how Kang’s time-travel story will be implemented in Ant-Man 3.
A Kang Variant Can Be The Villain of Avengers 5
Unless Ant-Man 3 repeats Infinity War’s ending by letting Kang beat Ant-Man and the Wasp, the movie should end with Kang’s defeat. However, this outcome would come with a few problems. First of all, Kang is too big of a villain to be used in Ant-Man 3 only. A character as menacing and dangerous as him deserves a wider arc. His history makes him the strongest candidate out of all Marvel villains to be the Avengers’ primary foe in the fifth film (which is expected to happen sooner or later). But it’s hard to imagine a villain who gets defeated by just two superheroes being threatening enough for Avengers 5. After Thanos, what the movie will need is a seemingly unbeatable opponent for the heroes – not someone who has already been taken down once.
That’s why it would be better for Avengers 5 to feature a Kang variant instead of the same exact villain that Ant-Man just fought. This would be one way that Marvel can deliver a complete Kang story, and begin a new one in Phase 5. If so, there won’t be a need for Kang to escape at the end of Ant-Man 3. He can die, and a new version can take his place at a later date. It could be that Kang will accidentally create a variant of himself in Ant-Man 3, and that this character will return to be an even greater threat. It may be that the one who appears in Avengers 5 avoided the mistakes of his counterpart and has found greater success at manipulating the timestream. If he made different choices in his lifetime, he could be a totally different character to the one that viewers will see in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. In Avengers 5, the heroes may discover that the Kang variant has evolved into Immortus, the master of time. As an older and more experienced time traveler than the original Kang, Immortus may stand a better chance at accomplishing his goals.
