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Marvel Studios is quietly developing a follow-up to 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. And while details are scarce about Ant-Man 3, Deadline reports Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors has been cast in a major villain role. According to their sources, that character is none other than Kang the Conqueror.
That's right, one of the most iconic Avengers villains ever may be joining the MCU, but not in an Avengers movie. Not yet, anyway. If you're not familiar with Kang or why he has the potential to be the next Thanos-level threat to the MCU, we're here to shed light on this powerful villain. These are the topics we'll be covering here:
The many versions of Kang the Conqueror.[/caption]
- Who Is Kang the Conqueror?
- Kang's Origin
- Kang's Powers and Abilities
- Kang's Many Identities
- Kang and the Young Avengers
- Kang's Marvel Universe Connections
- Kang in TV and Games
Who Is Kang the Conqueror?
It's not easy recapping the convoluted history of Kang the Conqueror. He's a villain who's gone by many names and many different motivations in his countless clashes with the Avengers and Fantastic Four. But through it all the basics have stayed the same. Kang is a man who sees himself as the rightful master of the world. Using the power of time travel and the most sophisticated weaponry his future world has to offer, Kang has repeatedly sought to rewrite history to his own whims and ensure his own rise to power. Kang's love of time travel is exactly what makes him such a dangerous and seemingly never-ending thorn in humanity's side. No matter how often he's defeated, banished or even destroyed utterly, some version of him is always out there, waiting and plotting. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Kang's%20love%20of%20time%20travel%20is%20exactly%20what%20makes%20him%20such%20a%20dangerous%20and%20seemingly%20never-ending%20thorn%20in%20humanity's%20side."]Kang's Origin
While the first appearance of Kang the Conqueror is featured in 1964's The Avengers #8, the character technically debuted a year earlier in Fantastic Four #19. We'll try to summarize Kang's confusing origin story as simply as possible. Kang's real name is Nathaniel Richards. Originally a historical scholar from the 31st century (and possibly a distant descendant of either Reed Richards or Victor von Doom), Nathaniel discovers Doctor Doom's ancient time travel tech and uses it to travel back to the era of ancient Egypt. Crowning himself "Rama-Tut," he lords over his new subjects and uses his futuristic tech to make himself seem like a god. That is, until the Fantastic Four show up to end his reign. After escaping to the 20th century, Rama-Tut meets Doctor Doom and uses Doom's distinctive armor as inspiration for his next supervillain identity, the Scarlet Centurion. However, he's again defeated by Earth's heroes and attempts to return to his own timeline. This is where Kang the Conqueror is born. Richards accidentally travels forward too far in time, arriving in an era when human civilization has collapsed. As the only person left who understands the advanced but forgotten technology of the 40th century, the newly minted Kang is able to quickly conquer his new timeline and even extend his new empire beyond Earth's borders. Not content to be ruler of a futuristic empire, Kang begins a recurring game of toying with time and attempting to rewrite history to suit his own whims.Kang's Powers and Abilities
As an ordinary human from the 31st century, Kang has no innate superhuman powers. However, he's a gifted physicist and historian, using his knowledge of science and history to manipulate the timeline and accumulate power. His distinctive green and purple suit of armor (inspired by Doom's own armor) both enhances Kang's strength and allows him to survive in whatever inhospitable environments he may find. Kang has a time-ship that allows him to freely travel through the time-stream, and he's also assembled a vast army comprised of the best warriors from throughout history. Kang also sometimes wields a ray gun that can sap a person's strength and willpower, along with various doomsday weapons only a 40th century tyrant could dream of. Kang also seems to be functionally immortal. Because he's so fond of abusing the timeline for his own selfish ends, there are countless variations of Nathaniel Richards in existence. No matter how many times Kang is defeated, there's always another incarnation of the Conqueror ready to continue his crusade.
Kang's Many Identities
Kang is every bit as convoluted a character as one would expect from a man whose favorite hobby is manipulating time. But part of what makes Kang such a confusing character is that he's had so many different names and identities over the years. It doesn't help that these various characters weren't all originally conceived as being the same person, so a lot of these connections have been forged after the fact. If you're familiar with the comic book storytelling term "retcon," Kang is basically its living embodiment. As we've already covered, Nathaniel Richards uses names like Rama-Tut and the Scarlet Centurion early on in his career as a time-travelling tyrant. But taking up the mantle of Kang isn't his last identity shake-up. At some point in his long life, Kang gives up his name and his empire to instead forge an alliance with an advanced alien race known as the Time-Keepers. In exchange for true immortality, Kang agrees to preserve the timeline and ensure the Time-Keepers' rise to power. At that point he becomes Immortus. Ironically, his younger selves are responsible for much of the damage Immortus is tasked with undoing. Kang has held other cover identities while masquerading as a 21st century human, including a small-town mayor named Victor Timely and a business tycoon named Mr. Gryphon. If all this isn't complicated enough, thanks to time travel these various incarnations of Kang basically coexist alongside each other and sometimes collude or wage war against one another. There's even an entire team of Kangs known as the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. Picture the Citadel of Ricks in Rick and Morty, but with less alcohol and self-loathing. [caption id="attachment_2406503" align="aligncenter" width="964"] The many versions of Kang the Conqueror.[/caption]