The release ofAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is just around the corner. And with it, moviegoers will at last be formally introduced to the iconic Marvel supervillain Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors.
Kang was already set up as the MCU’s next big bad back in the Season 1 finale ofLoki, but with last year’s announcement that Kang will be the main antagonist of the nextAvengersfilm — aptly titledAvengers: The Kang Dynasty— interest in thisrelatively offbeat comic villainis at an all-time high. So before he makes his big-screen debut, here’s everything you need to know about Kang the Conqueror.
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Who is Kang in the Comics?
The villain most commonly known as Kang first appeared in 1963’sFantastic Four#19 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, under the alias of the pharaoh Rama-Tut. However, he reappeared a year later inAvengers#8, now using the Kang the Conqueror identity that he’d become most notorious for. Kang was born into a utopian society on 31st-century Earth, but he grew bored with a life of peace and prosperity. After stumbling upon a time machine built by one of his distant ancestors — originally implied to benone other than Doctor Doom— Kang decides to fill his longing for excitement by waging war all across time and space.
Since his Silver Age debut, Kang has often matched wits with the Avengers of modern-day Earth, considering them his greatest foes across all of time and space. While he lacks any real superpowers, Kang’s keen strategic mind and vast arsenal of futuristic weaponry ensure that he’s nevertheless a deadly opponent in combat. However, what makes Kang most dangerous is his insatiable hunger for battle. Unlike other tyrannical supervillains, Kang has no interest in actually ruling the worlds he takes over. True to his name, he’s concerned only with conquest — the thrill of the hunt,the challenge of fightingworthy opponents. And as such, he’ll never stop trying to defeat the Avengers once and for all.
True to form for a time-traveling villain, Kang’s story has only gotten more complex over the decades. In the 1980s, it was revealed that the ancestor who built Kang’s original time machine wasn’t Doctor Doom, but rather Reed Richards’ father Nathaniel, thus making Kang a distant relative of Mr. Fantastic. A later issue even established that Kang’s birth name is Nathaniel Richards, named after the aforementioned ancestor. Additionally, oneAvengersarc revealed that Kang’s fellow Avengers villain Immortus is actually a variant of Kang himself, from a future timeline where he gave uphis ambitions of conquestin favor of ruthlessly preserving the balance of space-time.
However, Kang’s finest hour in his entire comic history is without a doubt the epic 2001-2002Avengersstoryline “Kang Dynasty”, written by Kurt Busiek. In this fan-favorite arc, Kang declares war on Earth, amassing an army of villains to help conquer in his name. Eventually, Kang enters the fray personally, devastating Washington DC with his flagship and killing millions. Intimidated by this terrifying show of force, the United Nations decide to bend the knee to Kang, making him ruler of the entire planet — at least, for a while.The Avengers inevitably turnthe tides and defeat Kang, freeing Earth from his rule. But even so, Kang remains the only Marvel villain to date to successfully conquer Earth through strategy and military might alone.
Who is Kang in the MCU?
As previously stated, Kang the Conqueror himself won’t be making his proper MCU debut untilQuantumaniahits theaters. However, one of his multiversal variants has already appeared as the main antagonist ofLokiSeason 1. He Who Remains — based on Immortus from the comics — is the shadowy leader of the Time Variance Authority, dedicated to pruning alternate timelines to prevent the multiverse from growing out of control.He explains to Lokiand Sylvie that one of his variants was a scientist who discovered the multiverse, making contact with his other selves from other timelines. While many of these variants worked together to better their worlds, others sought multiversal conquest.
He Who Remains explained that a multiversal war broke out between his myriad selves, each one seeking to be the last variant standing. Using the power of the temporal monster Alioth, he ended the multiversal war by erasing his variants from existence, and created the TVA to prevent another multiversal war from breaking out again. He Who Remains attempts to justify his authoritarian control over time and space by assuring the Lokis that his rule is farpreferable to the returnof his variants.
However, Sylvie nevertheless kills He Who Remains out of revenge, breaking his grip on the Sacred Timeline and allowing the multiverse to grow freely once again. After the death of He Who Remains, Loki returns to the TVA headquarters to find that a statue of Kang the Conqueror has been erected there. Just as He Who Remains promised, his death ensured that one of his warmongering variants would seize power, and Kang has seemingly taken his place as the leader of the TVA.
It remains to be seen how the events ofLokiSeason 1 will affect Kang’s role inQuantumania. However, one thing is certain:Kang is sure to havehis sights set on multiversal domination. And withThe Kang Dynastycoming in 2025, it’s inevitable that Kang will be taking on the Avengers before long. Granted, it remains to be seen how faithful the live action Kang will be to his comic book incarnation. But if the source material is any indication, MCU fans can expect big things on the horizon from Kang the Conqueror.
