Early Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania Screenings Made Kang The 'Highest-Testing Villain'

When "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania" finally hits theaters this weekend, it'll mark the beginning of Marvel's Phase 5, laying the groundwork for both the multiverse and the new Big Bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ready or not, Kang (Jonathan Majors) is coming and it'll take more than a single Ant-Man movie to stop him. My condolences in advance to Scott Lang and his family — as much as I'd love to see Paul Rudd continue his stream of happy-go-lucky lighthearted heist movies, it's hard to imagine the bug-based Supe making it out of this one unscathed. Already, in the brief glimpses we've caught, Kang has made it clear that he won't be pulling his punches when it comes to getting what he wants.

First seen in the season 1 finale of "Loki," Kang is already on his second iteration thanks to the multiverse. And it's safe to assume that there will be many more to come because the introduction of the famed conqueror has been a long time coming. Chatting with Entertainment Weekly, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige explained:

"For years, we've always had the inkling that Kang would be an amazing follow-up to Thanos. He's got that equal stature in the comics, but he's a completely different villain. Mainly, that's because he's multiple villains. He's so unique from Thanos, which we really liked."

But figuring out the villain is just one piece of the puzzle. From there, finding the right performer to bring Kang to life was crucial.

So far, it's looking like that mission was more than accomplished: Jonathan Majors, who looked to Heath Ledger's Joker as inspiration and likens working across the MCU to joining a Shakespearean troupe, is taking this role very seriously. Majors has proven himself a thoughtful actor, who pours soul into every performance — something that the worst Marvel villains are sorely lacking. So of all the many concerns that folks have leading up to "Quantumania" (What happened to the days of small-scale "Ant-Man" movies? Exactly how much of this will take place in purple CGI land? Where the hell is Luis?!), we have it on good authority that the villain doesn't need to be one of them.

The MCU tends to be a little hit-and-miss when it comes to great villains, and with Kang expected to play a major role in the next era of movies, there wasn't much room for a miss. Thankfully, Kevin Feige's enthusiasm about the character — and, most importantly, Jonathan Majors in the role — was shared by some of the very first people to see him in action. As Feige explained to EW:

"In the early days of 'Quantumania' [test audiences], Jonathan started to pop in a big way. He's the highest-testing villain we've ever had in any of our friends and families [screenings]. That's really saying something with a movie like this."

Whatever else Marvel learned from those test screenings, the love for Jonathan Majors has remained pretty damn consistent. While reviews for the film are extremely mixed (after 140 reviews, the film is sitting at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes), critics are in agreement on one particular detail: Majors absolutely rules. Given his prior work and meteoric rise to fame, this is no big surprise. In the span of just a few years, Majors has been blazing a trail through Hollywood, so when he was announced as the new Big Bad in the MCU, it wasn't hard to understand why they chose him to bet big on. So far, it's paying off in spades.

In his review of the film, /Film's Jeff Ewing wrote, "Jonathan Majors' Kang is fantastic," adding, "Majors' Kang may be woefully underutilized with power that's explained but never truly shown, but his charisma and gravitas win the day for a strong performance that bodes well for the MCU's future."

For Kevin Feige and company, this response is no big surprise. They could see the magic at work even before the film entered its post-production stage. Per Feige:

"Even early on without the effects, Jonathan is his own effect. He was working from the start. It's always one of the fun rolls of the dice that we do at Marvel, which is to say: "Hey, we're going to make multiple movies around this character, and we're going to start before the audience has even had a chance to meet him."'

The first time we laid eyes on Thanos, no one could've guessed that he would be an epic villain capable of packing such an emotional punch ... mostly because that first time, he was a purple CGI menace who confused the hell out of anyone unfamiliar with the comics. And fair enough — many folks were similarly confused when the first season of "Loki" concluded with an extended monologue from some well-dressed rando. As Kevin Feige said, casting someone with the intent to build several movies around them is a bit of a gamble. But Jonathan Majors quickly proved to be someone who's more than worth the dice roll. Feige explained:

"'The Last Black Man in San Francisco' was a huge reason we cast him. ['Quantumania' director] Peyton Reed was a proponent of Jonathan's from the very start. We knew we were casting him for at least 'Loki' season 1 and 'Quantumania' at the same time. Working with both the 'Loki' team and Peyton and the 'Quantumania' team, we thought Jonathan would be incredible for their different incarnations of those characters. And spoiler: He was."

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" opens in theaters this Friday, February 17, 2023.