The MCU's Kang The Conquerer Will Differ From The Comic Version In Some Key Ways

When you think of the biggest and baddest names in the Marvel Universe, you've probably got a venerable murders' row of marquee villains in mind already. Names like Magneto, the Red Skull, Doctor Doom, the Green Goblin, Apocalypse, and Thanos are likely on the roster, but Kang the Conqueror has potential to be the MVP. So when it comes to the heroes you'd call in to handle a massive threat like Kang, there's a very good chance that Ant-Man and the Wasp are towards the bottom of the list, if they even make it on. However, that's exactly who the mighty time traveller will tango with during his next appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After first appearing in "Loki" on Disney+ as a relatively docile variant of the character, Jonathan Majors will make his theatrical debut as the fearsome foe in the upcoming Phase Five feature "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania." But how will Peyton Reed keep his heroes, played by Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, from immediately getting squashed like bugs by the surprisingly comic-accurate foot of Kang? 

Well, it looks like there will be a few changes to the character as True Believers know him currently as he makes the jump from the page to the screen. However, don't be mistaken. Kang will still be one of the most powerful forces that Earth's Mightiest Heroes have ever seen.

While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Reed discussed his approach to Kang the Conqueror in his third Marvel Studios film. First, he mentioned his long-time Marvel fandom and shared that he considers Kang to be one of the all-time greatest supervillains in comics. Second, he knows that "Ant-Man" movies are usually considered a "palate cleanser after a gigantic 'Avengers' movie," but he wanted to do something more epic to cap off his trilogy. Luckily, he had access to the biggest bad available. But what's the correlation between the size-shifting superheroes and a time-traveling tyrant? While he doesn't get into an incredible amount of detail, the filmmaker did touch on it.

"In conversations with Kevin Feige and Marvel, it was like, 'I want to put Ant-Man and Wasp up against a really formidable villain in this movie,' and so we're doing Kang the Conqueror. In the comics, Kang has dominion over time, he's a time traveler. His situation is a little bit different in this movie, which I won't spoil for you, but he's someone who, [while] we live very linear lives, from childhood to death, Kang doesn't exist that way. It struck me as interesting to take the tiniest Avengers — in some people's minds maybe the least powerful Avengers — and put them up against the most powerful force in the multiverse."

So is the MCU's Kang really that different than his comic book counterpart? The bit about him living a non-linear life raises eyebrows, but the answer is likely "yes and no" since, as we've seen, one can time travel using the Quantum Realm. With the film now less than two months away, we're likely to find out a lot more in the coming weeks.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" assembles in theaters on February 17, 2023.