Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Jonathan Majors has revealed where he got the inspiration for his performance as Kang. Majors said he studied Tom Hiddleston's performance as Loki to craft his villain.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania might be Kang's cinematic debut, but the character first appeared in Loki season 1. There, he was depicted as a variant known as He Who Remains, the head of the Time Variance Authority, or TVA. He Who Remains was a version of Kang who sought to keep his variants from inciting a war that would threaten reality. In doing so, he established one timeline and universe before Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) broke his system apart and allowed the multiverse to come into being.
Slashfilm reports that Majors made the comments during a press conference for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Majors revealed that he studied Hiddleston and Paul Rudd's performances. "In Loki, I'm dealing with Tom, you know?" Majors said. "It was great, He Who Remains and Tom. I got to watch him the whole time. This opportunity came to me in lockdown, and so I studied Tom Hiddleston for hours a day. Then when that was done, I went 'okay Paul Rudd you're up,' you know, and I studied him, I studied him. I studied all his hero colleagues and compatriots."
While Majors was portraying He Who Remains in Loki, he'll play a full-fledged Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man 3. In that film, Kang is depicted as the ruler of the Quantum Realm. There, he met a trapped Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), who was wary of his machinations. Should he escape the Quantum Realm, there's no telling what he'll be able to do.
Majors' statement encapsulates why Kang is a bigger threat than Thanos. Similarly to how Majors studied his counterpart's acting, Kang monitors and knows his enemies well. Ant-Man 3 promos revealed that Kang went toe-to-toe with the Avengers numerous times before and won. Even Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has fallen to Kang, and Kang is so used to fighting Avengers that he's grown bored of it.
Majors already revealed that what drew him to Kang was the ability to play a multi-layered character. Kang not only fits that description, but he also exceeds it. Majors has the opportunity to play multiple versions of the same character, which must be quite the challenge as an actor. Given his interest in portraying the character, it's no surprise he's taken to studying other MCU performances. He'll play a character who's intimately familiar with the Avengers while they're completely unaware of him.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be released in theaters on February 17, 2023.
Source: Slashfilm