Marvel Studios' panel at 2022's San Diego Comic-Con left some massive surprises about what's about to come to the mega-franchise, including the slate for Phase 5 that surprisingly includes groundbreaking Avengers films: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Now, after being teased in Disney+'s Loki as He Who Remains, Kang The Conqueror was officially introduced by Marvel President Kevin Feige to be the next Thanos-level threat for MCU's upcoming Multiverse saga.
In an interview with Phase Zero's Brandon Davis, Feige firmly puts his trust in Jonathan Majors to portray the conqueror in the next major MCU projects, particularly saying that he wouldn't trust another actor to carry the next MCU phase.
“Well, it’s… it comes down to the cast and with Jonathan Majors who I think took over the Hall H stage, you know, in the three minutes he was up there, Feige said. "It’s amazing. And I said to him, there’s… nobody’s shoulders I’d rather be putting the Multiverse Saga on than his. It’s really impressive what Jonathan Majors is able to do. And all the different incarnations, Variants, if you will, of Kang that we will see him do. It’s really pretty cool."
When asked how Kang will "stack up" against John Brolin's Thanos, the previous villain of Phase 3, Feige went on to discuss what makes Kang completely different from Thanos is his "many, many different characters" or variants.
He responded, “What I love is that he’s totally different than Thanos. That he’s completely different, that it’s not just, ’How ‘bout… is there a bigger purple guy with a helmet.’ That’s not… you know, that’s not what Kang is. Kang is a very different type of villain and the fact that he is many, many different characters is what’s most exciting and most differentiates him."
In Marvel Comics, Kang is a 31st Century scientist who travels back in time multiple times to accomplish his cruel plans. He brings the advantage of 31st-century technology and uses it against the other Marvel superheroes and the Avengers. He has an army, robots, and advanced weaponry from the 31st century that overpowers anyone who stands in his way. Unlike Thanos, who only wants genocide or to wipe out half of the universe, Kang has a different goal. He wants to be a god which seemingly makes him more of a sinister villain compared to Thanos.
Fans will see Jonathan Majors' Kang The Conqueror in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, pushing a May 2, 2025 release date.
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