The release of Ant-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 of Loki, but with last year’s announcement that Kang will be the main antagonist of the next Avengers film — aptly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty — interest in this relatively offbeat comic villain is at an all-time high. So before he makes his big-screen debut, here’s everything you need to know about Kang the Conqueror.
Who is Kang in the Comics?
The villain most commonly known as Kang first appeared in 1963’s Fantastic Four #19 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, under the alias of the pharaoh Rama-Tut. However, he reappeared a year later in Avengers #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 be none 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 fighting worthy 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, one Avengers arc revealed that Kang’s fellow Avengers villain Immortus is actually a variant of Kang himself, from a future timeline where he gave up his ambitions of conquest in 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 2001-2002 Avengers storyline “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 turn the 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 until Quantumania hits theaters. However, one of his multiversal variants has already appeared as the main antagonist of Loki Season 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 Loki and 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 far preferable to the return of 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 of Loki Season 1 will affect Kang’s role in Quantumania. However, one thing is certain: Kang is sure to have his sights set on multiversal domination. And with The Kang Dynasty coming 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.