Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Jonathan Majors outlines some of the deep inspirations he drew from to craft his version of Kang in the upcoming sequel. Serving as the first movie in Phase 5 of the MCU, the upcoming third entry in Paul Rudd’s Marvel franchise is slated to release next February. The film, which sees the return of director Peyton Reed, is slated to be the most significant installment for Ant-Man yet, with it acting as the official debut for Kang the Conqueror. A variant of Kang first appeared in the Loki season 1 finale, but this new version of the character is expected to be the central villain in Phase 6.
With Kang set to be the next Thanos-level threat for the Avengers to defeat, Majors, in a recent interview with CinePOP, reveals some of his inspirations for developing the formidable new Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania villain. Some of the actor’s preparation for the role included looking back at other Avengers villains like Loki, Ultron, and Thanos, but Majors reveals that he also took inspiration from a host of other sources as well, and that the character’s significance is not lost on him. Check out the actor’s full comment below:
“It’s funny, because I did go through and I did look at Ultron, I looked at Loki, I looked at Thanos. And I had an idea of, just for me, what I wanted to bring to the MCU through Kang. And there’s a certain requirement that has to happen.
“I think Ultron, Loki, and Thanos, I think those would be the quintessential baddies or anti-heroes. They all had very interesting qualities to them and some of them shared qualities, which is just a necessity for taking up the mantle. And so once once I took those out and put those in the Kang soup, I then looked at, ‘What is it we need for this time period?’
“Our generation, what we represent, what is a big bad to us? What are our children going to see? What are our partners going to see? What are our leaders going to see? What is it that our zeitgeist, quote unquote, needs? What are we conjuring up? What’s in the unconscious of our time now? And Marvel has the, in my opinion, the largest platform in entertainment. And so to bring the big bad, the big bad has to represent so many things and has to be connected to so many things. So I read the newspaper, I looked at history books… I talked to people, I look at my child, talk to my partner. What is it we’re afraid of in this time? What is it that’s scaring us? Because Kang has to be… any big bad is a manifestation of our deepest insecurities as a society.”
How Kang Could Be Even More Dangerous Than Thanos
After being teased throughout Phases 1 and 2, the arrival of Josh Brolin’s Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War made clear that he was the most powerful enemy that the MCU had ever seen. The villain had the brute strength of Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk and intelligence to match, something that was only amplified when he obtained all 6 Infinity Stones. What’s more, Thanos actually wins in Avengers: Infinity War, with his victory only being undone after Tony Stark and his companions use time travel in Avengers: Endgame. Kang, on the other hand, is essentially a master of time, meaning his actions won’t be so easily undone if the Avengers find themselves defeated once more.
If the character stays true to his comic book counterpart, Kang’s abilities will, in many ways, surpasses Thanos’. Kang has a genius-level intellect in addition to being a gifted military strategist. When combined with his futuristic armor (which has already been shown off in the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer), time-traveling ship, highly-advanced weaponry, and an army of potentially trillions of soldiers, Majors’ villain is shaping up to be a threat the likes of which the MCU has never seen. In order to prevent Kang from being too overpowered compared to Earth’s mightiest heroes, however, it’s possible that Majors’ villain will be toned down when he’s introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
It remains to be seen how Kang will compare to Thanos, Loki, and Ultron, but Majors’ vast amount of research and his general thoughts about the role suggest he’s taking the responsibility very seriously. Thanos represents the biggest and most powerful villain to be featured in the MCU so far, but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania could change this, potentially setting up what’s to come in the two Avengers entries in Phase 6. With a release date now just over 2 months away, it thankfully won’t be long before fans get to see Majors’ villain in action for the first time.
Source: CinePOP