Call me Kang: The Next Big Bad
The Marvel fanbase recently feasted on the reveals of Kevin Feige, the Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment, from the San Diego Comic-Con Panel for the next phases of the MCU.
One of the projects revealed is the first look at Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The poster shows Ant-man, the Wasp, the first time we see Cassie’s new Stinger armor, and of course, Kang the Conqueror. But before seeing Kang in his full armor in action on the big screens, here are some facts about the rumored next big bad.
Who is Kang?
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Kang is a time-traveler from Earth-6311 also known as Other Earth. He first appeared as Rama-Tut in the Fantastic Four #19 in October 1963 and later on, appeared as Kang for the first time in the Avengers #8 in September 1964.
Before he became Kang, he was Nathaniel Richards, a 31st-century scholar that is fascinated by history and time. With the name, it was hinted that he might be an ascendant of Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) or even Doctor Doom.
Eventually mastering time travel technology, he goes back to ancient Egypt and calls himself Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Planning to capture En Sabah Nur, a mutant that later on became the Apocalypse, to become his heir, he crossed paths with the Fantastic Four that beat him and sent him running away.
In the annual issue 2 of Fantastic Four, Rama found Dr. Doom hurtling in space and saves him. With the help of Dr. Doom, Rama designs an armor and calls himself the Scarlet Centurion. He then sought the Avengers and their alternate reality selves and put them against each other. The Avengers also beat him as the Scarlet Centurion in Avengers #8.
After failing twice, he went back to his own timeline. A time storm caught him causing his redirection to the 40th Century. In this timeline, barbarians battled each other with technology as war raged all over. Nathaniel, from Pharaoh Rama-Tut to the Silver Centurion, reinvents himself as the vicious Kang the Conqueror. He then easily conquered the planet which sparks his interest in the domination of the galaxy. Inevitably, that timeline is dying so he again jumps back to the Avengers to plan his revenge.
Time is Powerful.
You might think that Kang can control time because of all his mischief across various timelines. But he doesn’t have superpowers of any sort. Nathaniel Richards is one of the brilliant minds in all of the Marvel Universe. He is an expert historical scholar, a master physicist, particularly on time travel, and a technician. All of his time travel shenanigans came from his advanced tech and armor. It increases his strength and allows him to shoot energy beams, and create force fields and hologram projections.
Being his technology from the 40th Century, he can control and access other forms of technology from all centuries. This makes him powerful while time traveling. He is also more resistant to radiation compared to 21st Century humans.
Time can Heal a Broken Heart
Going back to his timeline, he fell in love with a princess in one of his subject kingdoms. This princess is called Ravonna Lexus Renslayer. But she doesn’t reciprocate her feelings toward Kang. Like any other villain, he showed her how powerful he is by kidnapping the Avengers.
All his efforts to defeat the Avengers left Ravonna unimpressed. He then keeps the Avengers as prisoners. Because of love, Kang did not execute Ravonna and her father even if they were disobedient to him. Kang’s commander sees this and revolts. With the help of the Avengers, Kang defeated the rebels.
Amid the chaos, Ravonna saved Kang when she jumped in the way of a blast directed toward Kang. Ravonna realized that she loved him also. But never survives the blast and dies. Kang puts her body in stasis and freezes it while letting the Avengers go back to their timeline.
Against Time
Villains as powerful as Kang is certain to create powerful enemies. He has crossed paths with almost all of the Marvel heroes in one way or another. But most of the time, he is always in conflict with the Avengers.
Once, he used them as pawns with his bet with the cosmic entity Grand Master. If he won this bet, the Grand Master will give him temporary power over life and death. He does this so that he can bring back Ravonna.
The first round ends in a stalemate when Black Knight, who is not an Avenger at that time and is unaware, intervenes in the fight, making the Avengers win the round. In the second round, the Avengers won again.
Because of the results, Kang did not earn the power over life and death and is forced to choose. Kang chooses the power of death for the Avengers. Black Knight being not an Avenger yet, was not affected by what happened and saved the Avengers.
There are many more times where he is in conflict with the Avengers. There was a time wherein he kidnaps Hulk in order to kill an ancestor of Bruce Banner, Without his ancestor, Bruce will cease to exist and the Avengers will not be formed.
Kang also attacked the Avengers Mansion in search of the Madonna who will have a powerful child. The Madonna turned out to be the Mantis and Kang wanted to marry her. The Avengers were aided by a Kang tired of conquest. Another story arc is the council of Kangs with Prime Kang who wants to conquer all times. There are more stories about Kang’s quest for power in the comics, making fans excited about how he will give the Avengers a hard time on the big screen.
Future in the MCU
Kang has been introduced in the MCU as He Who Remains, a variant of him. When Loki and Sylvie created a new timeline, the Time Variance Authority had new management, revealing Kang. With Quantumania on the way, things will get a little bit more exciting as Phases 4 and 5 unfolds. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will be released in 2025.
