Josh Brolin’s Thanos loomed over the Marvel cinematic universe for the first three of its phases, the purple-headed brutish Titan who succeeded in his quest to wipe out half of all life in the universe.
Ultimately it took time travel, a combination of countless superheroes and a couple of deaths to see the character brought down and wiped from existence. How do you top that? The fourth Phase of Marvel couldn’t, and so there’s been no real hint of an overarching big bad, which has left the movies feeling a little rudderless.
That changes with “Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania,” the first part of Marvel’s Phase 5, which truly begins the Multiverse Saga and introduces the overarching villain for the next few years to come – Jonathan Majors’ Kang The Conqueror.
His goal is domination over not just our universe, but all universes, and he’s at war with not just other versions of himself but all sorts of variations of heroes. He may lack Thanos’ brutish strength but more than makes up for it in smarts and ruthlessness. Speaking with Empire about his introduction, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige says:
“He is the obvious choice as you’re dealing with the Multiverse. Kang allowed us to do a new kind of Big Bad. He’s a different type of villain, warring amongst themselves as much as he’s warring with our heroes.
Kang’s a very powerful person, but when we meet him he’s in a position where he needs to get that power back. He has a ship and a device that would allow him to go anywhere, and anywhen he wants if he can get it online. If only he had access to genius scientists with Pym particles”
Indeed the actions of ‘Quantumania’ will seemingly see Kang, currently trapped in the Quantum Realm, find a way out to wreak havoc on the universe. It’s only the start for Majors who, after first appearing as a fairly benevolent Kang variant in “Loki,” will have plenty more MCU work to come. Talking about his character, he says:
“I met with the Loki team first. Then Peyton [Reed, Ant-Man director] came on, and we had our chat for the film. He gave me a few reference points – Alexander The Great, things like that. Kang adds tonal diversity, real conflict and real friction. You’re being introduced to a new vibration in the MCU. There’s conflict – not just mano-a-mano, not just hero and villain, but ‘your way of life’ and ‘my way of life’. I’m coming for it. We’re in a battle here.”
Majors will definitely be back for “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty,” though it’s not clear what other films or Disney+ shows he may pop up in between ‘Quantumania’ and that. As for ‘Quantumania’ itself, writer Jeff Loveness promises that the Quantum Realm is essentially “Jodorowsky’s ‘Dune’ within Marvel” and a “limitless place of creation and diversity and alien life”.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is slated to release on February 17th 2023.
