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Kang the Conqueror

Victor Timely was a scientist from the 31st Century who discovered the Multiverse 's existence and joined the Council of Kangs in ruling over the foreseeable realities. Deeming the council's actions to be destroying the Multiverse, Timely sparked the Multiversal War , seeking to conquer as many worlds as possible as Kang the Conqueror . However, the council decided to banish him to the Quantum Realm , where he allied with Janet van Dyne to rebuild his Time Sphere , until he was betrayed after van Dyne discovered his true nature. Kang was once again trapped in the Quantum Realm, using that time to conquer part of it and build an empire in Axia .

Years later , after taking Darren Cross under his wing, Kang had ordered the capture of Ant-Man and Cassie Lang , holding the latter prisoner unless Ant-Man would succeed in claiming the Multiversal Engine Core to escape the Realm with his new empire and enact a new dynasty. However, Kang's attempts were thwarted by a revolution by the Freedom Fighters . In his last opportunity to escape, he had a brutal duel against Ant-Man, which resulted in Kang being shrunken and decimated by his own Engine Core, though his death inadvertently alerted the Council of Kangs about people interacting with the Multiverse, prompting them to take their own measures.

• 1.1.1 Conquering the Multiverse
• 1.2.1 The Council of Kangs' Betrayal
• 1.2.2 Meeting Janet van Dyne
• 1.2.3 Rebuilding the Time Sphere
• 1.2.4 Van Dyne's Betrayal
• 1.3.1 The Rise of Kang the Conqueror
• 1.4.1 Negotiations with Ant-Man
• 1.4.2 Retrieving the Core
• 1.4.3 Dynasty Preparations
• 1.4.4 Uprising in Axia
• 1.4.5 Putting Down the Rebellion
• 1.4.6 Final Stand-Off
• 1.5.1 Worse Fate
• 1.5.2 Council of Kangs' Meeting
• 1.5.3 Monitored by the TVA
• 2 Personality
• 3.2 Abilities
• 4.1 Other Equipment
• 4.2 Vehicles
• 5 Facilities
• 6.2 Enemies
• 7 Appearances
• 9 Behind the Scenes
• 10 References
• 11 External Links

Biography [ ]

Multiversal war [ ], conquering the multiverse [ ].

Kang beginning the Multiversal War

While living on Earth in the 31st century, Victor Timely discovered the existence of the Multiverse , which consisted of alternate universes and alternate versions of himself . Timely's Variants had been discovering the Multiverse at the same moment and made contact, sharing knowledge and technologies with each other, in an effort to improve their timelines. [4] However, Timely realized that the reckless actions of his Variants was causing chaos that was spreading throughout the entire Multiverse. He saw the ultimate demise of the Multiverse due to the collisions of the universes and Incursions .

Kang conquers timelines

Timely decided to take control, adopting the name of Kang the Conqueror, and sought to conquer as many timelines he possibly could, starting the Multiversal War between his Variants. [2] All Variants had been fighting one another in an ultimate struggle to annihilate other timelines and leaving only the one they had conquered. During his conquest, Kang fought and killed the Avengers from numerous timelines, to the point when he could not tell one from another. However, the Multiversal War was eventually put to an end, when one of the Variants weaponized Alioth to emerge victorious and created what he called the Sacred Timeline , keeping other Variants from entering it. [4]

Betrayed and Exiled [ ]

The council of kangs' betrayal [ ].

With He Who Remains ' death, the Sacred Timeline branched, which allowed his Variants, including Kang, to re-establish contact with it. [4] The Council of Kangs , having deemed Kang too dangerous, chose to banish him into the Quantum Realm in an attempt to prevent a new war, since Kang was still seeking to conquer the Multiverse . [2] Kang was ambushed [5] and put into his Time Sphere , where he was exiled to the Quantum Realm, a dimension where time and space do not abide to the human laws of physics.

Meeting Janet van Dyne [ ]

Kang is banished to the Quantum Realm

Due to his Multiversal Engine Core being sabotaged, Kang stranded through the realm, until the Time Sphere crashed and Kang was confronted by the predators of the realm. However, he was saved by Janet van Dyne , who was also trapped in the Quantum Realm, and Kang helped her by shooting down one of the predators that nearly pounced her. He introduced himself as a scientist who traveled into the Quantum Realm before his ship crashed off-course, and van Dyne helped him in need. She asked if the Time Sphere could get them out of the Quantum Realm, and Kang replied that it could take them anywhere they wanted. Van Dyne had the Time Sphere being brought to her homestead near the crash site, so they could investigate together. [2]

Rebuilding the Time Sphere [ ]

Back at her homestead , Janet van Dyne helped Kang to examine the Time Sphere and find the way to make it operational again. They realized that the problem was with the Multiversal Engine Core and worked tirelessly to recharge it, however, nothing worked. Van Dyne would later remarked that she never met a person like Kang, remarking how lost he was, and that they found friendship in each other. Kang would listen to van Dyne telling him about her life, about her daughter Hope , whom she called "Jellybean".

As Kang and van Dyne talked, she confided to him that during the last time she saw Hope, van Dyne lied that she would come back to her. Kang told van Dyne that with his Time Sphere, he could give her back the time she could have spent with her daughter. He mused that time is a cage that keeps them all trapped, but turns out to be much smaller than it seemed, after you get out of it. He promised van Dyne that he will do everything he can, so van Dyne could upkeep her promise by coming back to Hope at the very exact moment she promised. [2]

Van Dyne's Betrayal [ ]

Kang regaining all his powers and armor

Years later, Kang and Janet van Dyne finally succeed and reactivated the Multiversal Engine Core , which would finally be their way out of the Quantum Realm . However, as they were putting the core into the Time Sphere , it relayed Kang's memories of the Multiversal War to van Dyne which horrified her. Kang was slightly confused by van Dyne's sudden mood change and assured her that they can leave, but she suddenly asked him who Kang is. Kang told her that it was who he needed to be and tried to reason with her, saying that he owes van Dyne and wants to keep his promise by bringing her back to her daughter . Van Dyne asked him what will he do after he gets out to the Quantum Realm, to which Kang replied that he is going to win and activated the Time Sphere, gaining access to his armor .

Kang getting betrayed by Janet van Dyne

Kang assured van Dyne that he has the power to make it so she never left Hope in the first place, but van Dyne only asked him about the worlds that will die after he gets out. Kang replied that he will spare her world and her daughter, while also remarking that she has no way to stop him. However, van Dyne used her Wasp Suit to steal the core and escape, but Kang created a shock wave to destroy the homestead and knock van Dyne down. He started approaching her and demanding the core back, prompting van Dyne to use the Pym Particle Discs to enlarge the core, rendering it unusable and trapping Kang in the Quantum Realm, without a chance of getting out. [2]

Quantum Realm's Ruler [ ]

The rise of kang the conqueror [ ].

Despite being trapped, Kang recovered his power and the access to the 31st century's technology and weaponry, which allowed him to conquer the Quantum Realm . He built his own empire , using the Quantumnauts as his troops, and ruled over his empire with an iron fist. Janet van Dyne and some of the Quantum Realm inhabitants became Freedom Fighters , seeking to bring down Kang's regime, but their attempts were fruitless. Kang came across of Darren Cross in a malfunctioning Yellowjacket Suit , who was also trapped in the Quantum Realm. Kang rebuilt his disfigured body and turned him to the Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing, making Cross his personal servant.

Eventually, van Dyne was able to be liberated from the Quantum Realm by Hank Pym and his Quantum Tunnel , which left Kang without any chance to escape. Some of the former Freedom Fighters chose to switch sides and pledge their loyalty to Kang, such as Krylar . Kang was informed by M.O.D.O.K. that Cassie Lang was using the Quantum Satellite to send signals to the Quantum Realm, which could potentially be used as their way out. Kang had M.O.D.O.K. to hijack the signal and open the rift, which brought van Dyne, Cassie, Pym, Scott Lang , and Hope van Dyne into the Quantum Realm, putting out an order to capture all of them alive. [2]

Final Chance [ ]

Negotiations with ant-man [ ].

Kang introduces himself to Scott Lang

While Krylar 's attempt to capture Janet van Dyne , Hank Pym and Hope van Dyne , Kang sent out M.O.D.O.K. to attack the Freedom Fighters settlement and capture Scott and Cassie Lang . As he approached them at the Celestium 's prison cell, Kang spoke to Scott and remarked that he is an interesting man. Scott tried to intimidated him by saying that he is an Avenger , but Kang was unimpressed due to all the Avengers he had killed throughout his life, briefly mistaking Scott for Thor .

Kang intimidating Scott and Cassie Lang

Kang told Scott that he is a man who had lost a lot of time, just like him, and they could potentially help each other, noting Scott's skills as a thief. M.O.D.O.K. tried to butt in and mentioned the last time Scott stole something from him, but Kang threw him against the wall with his telekinesis for speaking in his presence. He retorted that Janet was a better helper, which prompted a surprised reaction from Scott, and Kang was not surprised that Janet never told anyone about him.

Kang telling Scott Lang what he wants

Kang claimed that Janet stole his only ticket out of the Quantum Realm and Scott was the only man who could steal it back and return it to Kang. As Scott asked why would he help Kang, he informed him and Cassie that only he could stop the arrival of his Variants , claiming they exiled Kang because they were afraid of him. Kang then claimed that in exchange, he could help all of them to get back home, but Scott responded by rejecting his offer.

Kang making his deal with Scott Lang

Kang then begun telekinetically torturing Lang, threatening to trap him in an infinite loop of watching Cassie die over and over, until Scott would beg Kang to kill him for good. Scott was visibly afraid of that, and when Cassie tried to tell her father not to listen to the threats, Kang turned his attention to Cassie and began torturing her as well. Kang gave Scott a choice of whether he wanted his daughter to live or die, threatening to break her, until Scott eventually accepted the deal with Kang. He then let both him and Cassie out their cells, and as Scott demanded him to not hurt his daughter again, Kang replied that he must bring him what he wanted. [2]

Retrieving the Core [ ]

Kang brings Ant-Man to the Engine Core

Kang then opened a portal, bring him, Ant-Man , M.O.D.O.K. , and Cassie Lang to the ruins of Janet van Dyne 's homestead and what used to be the Multiversal Engine Core . M.O.D.O.K. informed Ant-Man that his mission is to get through the eye of the storm and shrink the core back down, while Kang said that he will know what he is looking for when he finds it. Cassie suddenly broke away from the troops and hugged her father, while Kang ordered them to stand down and not shoot her. As the two said their goodbyes, the Quantumnauts took Cassie away, while Kang witnessed Ant-Man jumping into the storm.

Kang confronts Ant-Man and the Wasp

The mission was successful as Ant-Man managed to shrink down the core with the Wasp 's help, so Kang stepped in after they were joined by Janet who told Ant-Man that Kang cannot have the core. Kang retorted that Janet was not trustworthy, referencing her previous betrayal that had him trapped in the Quantum Realm for years. Seeing Ant-Man holding the core, Kang questioned what would be his next course of action, asking if he needed to take the core by force. Ant-Man asked Kang about his daughter and reminded Kang of their deal to let them both go after he gets the core, but Kang replied that Cassie will be fine without him.

Kang then used his telekinesis to take the core, so Ant-Man and the Wasp both attempted to attack Kang, but he effortlessly knocked them away. Janet then witnessed Hank Pym crashing because of M.O.D.O.K.'s revenge attempt, but before she could run off to her husband, Kang stopped her in her tracks. He remarked that Janet left him to die in the Quantum Realm once before, wondering for how long her family would be able to survive there, and opened a portal to take her to the Celestium . [2]

Dynasty Preparations [ ]

Kang awaiting Janet van Dyne 's arrival

Kang had Janet van Dyne to be brought to him, while he was sitting in his Time Sphere and awaiting her. Kang questioned what did she saw back in the day, which made Janet turn against him, and she replied that what she saw was a megalomaniacal monster Kang actually was. Kang told her that he holds a power to witness the end of the Multiverse itself and could not look away from it no matter what, and when Janet what was the reason for that, Kang answered that it was himself.

Kang explains his plan to Janet van Dyne

He showed her the branches of the Multiverse and revealed that his Variants was playing with them like children, causing chaos and unwittingly bringing the Multiverse to its doom, so he decided to take control. Janet argued that what he did was starting a war and all he wanted is to wipe away any universe that poses a threat to him, calling him a monster again. Kang, however, claimed that he was merely a conqueror, and he must burn down the old world to build a new one in its place.

Kang vowing to destroy all of his variants

She retorted that Kang never cared about saving anyone and only wanted the revenge on his Variants for his loss. Kang lashed out, claiming that Janet had no idea what he truly lost, saying that he will burn all of his Variants out of time for what they had done to him. Janet could barely believe that Kang would murder trillions to achieve his revenge, but Kang replied that it hardly mattered in the end. [2]

Uprising in Axia [ ]

As the preparations of the Multiversal Engine Core were in progress, Kang had Janet van Dyne to witness the empire he had built and the army he was going to bring for his conquest. He then addressed his Quantumnauts with a speech, stating that together they will forge a history and take revenge on those who dared to banish him, as the Kang Dynasty shall conquer the eternity.

However, his speech was cut short, as the broadcast was hijacked by Cassie Lang who rallied the Freedom Fighters and other Quantum Realm inhabitants to rebel against Kang and his forces. Kang then ordered M.O.D.O.K. to find Cassie and kill her once and for all, while his troops held Janet in her place.

Kang coldly taunting Janet van Dyne

Kang then put the core into its place and ordered to begin the launch, however, the Celestium was suddenly attacked by Giant-Man , who was furious at Kang for breaking their deal. In response, Kang sent out his forces to bring Giant-Man down, but he was rescued by the Freedom Fighters who started an uprising in Axia .

As the Freedom Fighters fought his troops and Giant-Man was approaching his citadel, Kang ordered to launch the core immediately, covering the Celestium with a force field. He initially could not breach it, but with the Wasp 's help, he managed to get through and damage the citadel, prompting Kang to escape the rubble. Once Kang stood back and witness the ruins of his empire, Janet told him that it was over now, to which Kang only replied that it is never over. [2]

Putting Down the Rebellion [ ]

Kang descends to put down the rebellion

Kang then personally descended to participate in the battle, killing any Freedom Fighter on his way.

Kang holding back Jentorra 's attacks

Being confronted by Jentorra and Xolum , Kang effortlessly knocked them both away and reflected Xolum's energy beam back at him, which killed him. As the Freedom Fighters were falling back, Kang was faced by Ant-Man, the Wasp and Stature, who immediately charged at him. Kang fought off both the Wasp and Stature, but Ant-Man managed to pummel him into his own citadel, before Kang knocked him back.

Kang confronts Ant-Man , Wasp and Stature

Kang then ranted about how he has defeated many rebellions, killed many Avengers, and questioned their belief that they can beat him, remarking that Lang "talks to ants". Just then, Hank Pym arrived with an army of technologically advanced ants that started laying waste to Kang's forces and attempted to attack Kang himself.

Kang holding back M.O.D.O.K. 's attacks

Kang put out a force field, barely managing to hold off the ants, but still being able to force through them. However, M.O.D.O.K. suddenly arrived, having had a change of heart due to Stature's advice, and manages to disable Kang's force field at the cost of his own life. Kang was left defenseless against an army of ants that instantly swarmed him and damaged his armor, carrying him away. [2]

Final Stand-Off [ ]

Kang fights Ant-Man one on one

Kang managed to survive the attack of ants and furiously attack Ant-Man , right after his allies managed to get out of the Quantum Realm through the portal. Having his armor heavily damaged, Kang immediately rushed toward the portal in an attempt to gain his freedom, only to be knocked away by Ant-Man. The two engaged in a fight, in which Kang repeatedly stomped down on his head to the point that his helmet broke. Kang remarked that Lang should have looked the other way and not involve himself in his business, to which Lang replied that he was never great at that and charged at him. Kang ultimately bested Lang in a fight, saying that he could have gone home and be with his daughter , but threw it away due to thinking that he could win.

Kang gets sucked into a vortex

As Kang had Lang in a headlock, he suddenly responded by saying that he only needed for both of them to lose and hit the Multiversal Engine Core with blue and red Pym Particle Discs . Realizing what he had done, Kang immediately let go of Lang and rushed towards the portal once again, but was knocked back by the Wasp who came to aid Lang. She proceeded to blast Kang with her stingers , until Lang delivered a finishing blow and punched Kang into the unstable core. As the core started to collapse, Kang was sucked into a vortex and screamed from pain, before disappearing in the one last burst of energy. [2]

Worse Fate [ ]

Returning to his normal life, Scott Lang began to ponder on Kang's words that a threat bigger than him was coming. He became increasingly paranoid as to whether or not killing Kang was the best idea, remembering how Kang said that everyone would die if he did not escape. Lang tried to brush it off but his doubts remained as he tried not to think about Kang. [2]

Council of Kangs' Meeting [ ]

Meanwhile, Centurion called Rama-Tut to tell him that the exiled Kang had died. Immortus soon arrived and revealed that the fallen Kang was defeated by Ant-Man . Concerned that the Avengers were slowly discovering the existence of the Multiverse and would destroy everything they had built, Immortus decided to call upon the Council of Kangs to handle the issue. [6]

Monitored by the TVA [ ]

Kang's reports being studied at the TVA

Kang's conquest and attempted escape of the Quantum Realm did not go unnoticed by the Time Variance Authority . However, the TVA did not have to intervene since he was successfully defeated by both Ant-Man and Wasp . [3]

Personality [ ]

On the surface, this iteration of Kang was calm and collected, merely showing a desire to escape the Quantum Realm and initially helping Janet van Dyne return to her own timeline to see Hope. He pretended as a traveler lost in time and hid his true nature from van Dyne until the latter found out his true plans through touching his Time Sphere. Beneath this calm and controlled demeanor was a ruthless and cunning conqueror, prone to losing his temper when he did not get what he wanted, as he had been trapped in the Quantum Realm for so long and wanted to leave desperately, to exact revenge on his enemies and to conquer timelines. As his plans to start a new dynasty were foiled by Ant-Man and his allies, Kang became increasingly violent and desperate in his ways and decided to kill Ant-Man and his family even though he promised to spare them if they delivered Kang what he wanted.

This Kang held deep enmity for the Council of Kangs who imprisoned him and swore to burn them out of time. This desire of revenge against his enemies was his greatest weakness and blinded his rational mind, preferring to beat Scott Lang ruthlessly for foiling his plans instead of just escaping when given the chance to do so. This also made Kang prone to emotional outbursts when he suffers from a defeat.

Kang was also extremely ambitious and power-hungry. Before his exile, he had conquered a number of realities and killed countless heroes to establish power. He held no empathy for the people of these timelines and simply massacred them all. In his own twisted way, he believed that conquering the multiverse was to save it from his Variants in the Council of Kangs and prevent incursions from happening. In this sense, he believed that he was doing the right thing and justified his killings and murderous rampages with a “royal purpose”. Kang, due to his instability, was vulnerable to self-deception, since the main justification for his actions was that he saw a creator god of realities by destroying others. Kang even stated that if he couldn’t escape the Quantum Realm, all of reality would be destroyed by his Variants, showing that this Kang truly believed himself to be doing the right thing. Even after being banished, Kang conquered the Quantum Realm which was essentially his prison for eternity, and built his own empire on top of the homes of the original inhabitants, displacing them and forcing them to group as Freedom Fighters, showing that he held no empathy for other people and cared only for his own interests and desires. He also grouped a giant army which he used to monitor and force the inhabitants of the Quantum Realm into oppression, and to wipe out resistance entirely.

This Kang saw normal people living in different timelines as lesser beings and worthless to him. As Kang possessed the ability to travel through different timelines and universes, he was essentially erased from the equation and thus was able to see the Multiverse in its entirety, consisting of countless timelines. Kang sees himself as superior and that others' lives do not matter as they cannot see beyond their universes. He viewed timelines as simply as new lands to conquer so as to "preserve peace" among timelines.

Kang was also deceptive, as shown from how he hid his true nature from van Dyne in the Quantum Realm and merely masqueraded as a traveler lost in time, gaining the trust of van Dyne so that she could help him rebuild the Multiversal Engine Core to allow Kang to continue his conquest after escaping.

Kang also exerted an extremely condescending manner to both his subjects and his enemies. Considering his cruelty to M.O.D.O.K. , Kang only viewed his subjects as pawns to achieve his own goals as he killed Darren Cross immediately after Cross changed sides and became worthless to Kang. He only saved Cross as he saw what Cross could do for him, viewed Cross as a mere replacement for van Dyne in helping him escape, and treated Cross harshly, demanding him not to speak in his presence. To his enemies, Kang was much crueler, using his powers to render his enemies unable to move and forcing them to work with him, such as forcing Ant-Man into working for him after torturing his daughter Cassie in front of her father, and warning Ant-Man that he would have to see Cassie die endlessly if he didn’t comply, showing Kang’s tendency to mentally torture his enemies into submission. During the uprising, Kang brutally killed many Freedom Fighters without a thought even when the rebels escaped. Kang looked down on Ant-Man, stating that he only “talked to ants”, and underestimated his abilities during the Uprising in Axia as he didn’t expect the heroes to be able to beat him at all, Kang himself having killed countless Avengers from different realities before. Even as ruler of the Quantum Realm, Kang did not show any empathy to the inhabitants whose homes were displaced by Kang himself, and chose to rule with an iron fist, viewing them as lesser beings and thus neglecting their freedom. He also mercilessly killed many members of the Freedom Fighters as they attempted to thwart him in the Uprising of Axia.

Despite his ruthlessness, Kang seemed to at least have some honor, as he offered to change the timeline of Janet van Dyne such that she would not waste decades of time and with her daughter, as his token of thanks for her help in repairing the Time Sphere . He also offered to keep Janet van Dyne's timeline safe from his conquering once he escaped as he sees himself in debt to van Dyne. He seemed to truly see van Dyne as a friend, at least before van Dyne turned against him and joined the Freedom Fighters.

Powers and Abilities [ ]

• Superhuman Strength : The armor enhanced Kang's strength to superhuman levels. He was able to flick away Ant-Man and Wasp 's combo attack with a wave of his hand, an attack that would have knocked out most of the enemies. He was also capable of grabbing and throwing the inhabitants of Axia during the Uprising with ease.
• Superhuman Durability : The armor enhanced Kang's durability to superhuman levels, allowing him to survive numerous circumstances that would have otherwise killed a normal human. The armor's durability allowed him to survive being knocked away large distances by the Multiversal Engine Core 's enlarging, the collapse of his tower, numerous blasts from the Wasp's Stingers , being punched many times against a wall by Scott Lang in his Giant-Man form, being held by Cassie Lang in her giant mode, and being ripped apart by an enormous swarm of technologically advanced ants .
• Superhuman Speed : The armor enhanced Kang's speed to superhuman levels, enabling him to swat Wasp out of the air before she could react and even flick her and Ant-Man away in their miniature forms.
• Superhuman Agility : The armor enhanced Kang's agility to superhuman levels, making him capable of evading and dodging attacks from Ant-Man and Wasp even in their miniature forms.
• Superhuman Stamina : The armor enhanced Kang's stamina to superhuman levels, allowing him to battle against countless Freedom Fighters , Ant-Man , Wasp and Cassie Lang without showing any signs of exhaustion.
• Superhuman Reflexes : The armor enhanced Kang's reflexes to superhuman levels, seeing Ant-Man and Wasp when in their miniature form and flicking them away with a wave of his hand. Kang was also able to accurately fire an energy blast at Janet van Dyne while she was flying away in her miniature form.

Kang attacking the Freedom Fighters

• Telekinesis : The armor gave Kang telekinesis, which he could use through various hand gestures, allowing him to move, rotate, and even slowly crush whoever it was targeted at. Kang could also completely remove all motion from a moving object, freezing Janet in place and Jentorra 's spear in mid-air. He also used this ability against Scott Lang and Cassie Lang when they were imprisoned, torturing Ant-Man and his daughter to force them into working for him.
• Force-Field Generation : The armor allowed Kang to create blue force-fields, which could temporarily withstand large swarms of enemies such as technologically advanced ants or intense explosions such as the enlarging of his Multiversal Engine Core to massive proportions.

Kang opens up a portal to the Engine Core

• Platform Creation : The armor allowed Kang to create circular, blue platforms made of energy that allowed him to levitate in any direction, or allow him to get to the battlefield from his throne room by levitating down and attacking his enemies.
• Technopathy : His armor was able to interact with ambient technologies around him emulating a form of technological interfacing. He was able to unlock the cell that had held Ant-Man and Stature during his conversation with them.

Abilities [ ]

• Genius-Level Intellect : Being a version of Victor Timely, Kang has massive levels of intelligence. Able to manipulate, outmanoeuvre, outsmart, outfight and outdo any threat and opponent, he is a force to be reckoned with. In time, he was able to create a massive empire with just his armor as a starting point, including aircraft, weapons, architectural marvels and other equipment that he needed, after being left stranded in the Quantum Realm without a way to escape. He is also hinted to be smarter than his variant selves, with Rama-Tut's inquiry to Centurion if he was truly deceased proving that he may be capable of faking his own death.
• Master Tactician : Kang, being a Conqueror, is an extremely seasoned tactician. Before being banished to the Quantum Realm, he had already used tactics and power to destroy and annihilate timelines. After being banished, he posed as a harmless traveler to gain the trust of Janet van Dyne so that the latter could help him rebuild his Multiversal Engine Core . After regaining his a fraction of his powers and his suit, Kang easily became the ruler of the Quantum Realm, putting down a number of revolutions led by the Freedom Fighters and other inhabitants. He also built his own army and warcrafts to prepare to enact his dynasty when he could escape.
• Master Scientist : Kang was definitely gifted in the sciences and other similar disciplines as his variants, whereby his mastery of them had enabled him to discover inter-dimensional travel and advanced technology. Being a scientist from the 31st Century, his mastery was probably higher. Kang was aware of phenomena such as Incursions and the Multiverse and had great knowledge of them.
• Master Engineer : In the art of invention and the understanding of machinery, Kang was an undeniable master. From his armor to the Time Sphere, from the epic scale of his Empire to his weapons, aircraft and technology, his mastery was evident. His armor was able to simulate superhuman endowment with his Sphere capable of multiversal travel.

Kang furiously fighting against Ant-Man

• Master Marksman : Kang was a master marksman. He was able to accurately shoot thousands of Freedom Fighters without missing. He even managed to blast Janet van Dyne out of the air, despite her being shrunk down and a significant distance away from him. His hand-eye coordination was so greatly developed that he was able to perceive a shrunken Ant-Man and Wasp and swat them aside, when they launched an attack against him after claiming his Core from them. During the Uprising, he was able to vaporise a revolutionary who was charging towards him without even looking at them.

Equipment [ ]

Other equipment [ ].

Kang putting his armor back on

• Kang the Conqueror's Armor : Kang possessed a neuro-kinetic suit of armor that provided him with numerous abilities that he used throughout his conquest of the Multiverse and later while ruling his empire in the Quantum Realm .
• Multiversal Engine Core : Kang created the Multiversal Engine Core as a power source for his Time Sphere to travel anywhere in space and time of the Multiverse. Due to its inner workings being capable of manipulating the fabric of Ant-Man's existence when enlarged, it can be said that this technology is more than meets the eye.

Vehicles [ ]

• Time Sphere : Kang built the Time Sphere to travel across the Multiverse. When it was deactivated by the Council of Kangs , he used it as the throne of his empire in the Quantum Realm. The technology was neuro-kinetic as his armor, and responded to his mental commands.

Facilities [ ]

• Celestium : Kang established a citadel in the city of Axia as his base of operations in the Quantum Realm . This citadel was the heart of his Empire, where he ruled it with an iron fist. As part of his intellectual, technological and engineering achievements, he was able to bind his Time-Sphere technology to the Citadel, allowing him the capability of leaving the Quantum Realm with his entire military might to another destination within the Multiverse.

Relationships [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• Chronological

In chronological order:

In an indefinite temporality:

In narrative order:

• In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is a time-traveling enemy of the Avengers and the ruler of Chronopolis, as well as the love interest of Ravonna Renslayer . His real name is Nathaniel Richards , which is also the name of his ancestor from the 20th century, the father of Mister Fantastic .
• Kang is the third main antagonist to be killed by the titular character(s) of the film in which he appears.

Behind the Scenes [ ]

• Xavier Lake was a stunt double for Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conqueror.
• Audric Tchouani was a stand-in and a double for Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conqueror.
• Ed Goka and Kyle Reece Bell were stand-in for Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conqueror.
• Jernel Chisholm and Charles Ohanwe were acting doubles for Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conqueror.
• Theodore Smith , Kamara Benjamin Barnett , and Jernel Chisholm were a body doubles for Jonathan Majors in the role of Kang the Conqueror.
• According to Jeff Loveness , this variant of Kang is the most dangerous out of all his variants.
• Jeff Loveness implied that Kang the Conqueror has some connection to the Ten Rings , utilising similar ring technology to them. [7]
• Marvel Future Fight ' s tie-in game mode for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has Kang introduce himself as Nathaniel Richards.

References [ ]

• ↑ Loki: 2.03: 1893
• ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 Loki: 2.06: Glorious Purpose
• ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Loki: 1.06: For All Time. Always.
• ↑ Assembled: 1.15: The Making of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• ↑ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Mid-credits Scene
• ↑ Avengers 5 Writer Seemingly Confirms Kang 'Infinity Stones' Theory

External Links [ ]

• 1 Deadpool & Wolverine

The History Of Kang The Conqueror Explained

Kang the Conqueror is a time-traveling warlord who has been one of the Avengers' most dogged nemeses since the team first formed. At first glance, he might not stand out: Kang is an ordinary man with no special powers, other than his keen intellect and boundless ambition. But look closer, and you'll find that those two qualities are all he needs to wreak havoc across time and space. It is the Avengers, in fact, who first inspire him to look beyond his own peaceful (and boring) era of the 30th century and find a way to go where the action is. He's often coy about his real motivations, with regard to the Avengers — are they really his most hated enemies, or just a fun diversion he pursues when he's not conquering vast swathes of time? 

But it's not all tyranny and time-jumping for Kang. The problem with being a time-traveler is that you end up creating pesky alternate versions of yourself. Worse yet, you might end up knowing that you're destined to become someone you hate. So it goes with Kang, who antagonizes himself as often as he does Earth's Mightiest Heroes. We're here to jump into the timestream and see where Kang's path has taken him, one jump at a time.

Growing up in paradise

The man who would become Kang was born in the 30th century of Earth-6311 . On this Earth, Nathaniel Richards — AKA Reed Richards' father, deposited here through complex circumstances — brings together squabbling tribes as the Warlord, ruling them until he is superseded by his wife. The Fantastic Four arrive to set things right, a battle ensues, and the Four triumph. Peace proceeds to reign on Earth-6311 for a thousand years.

Kang is likely a direct descendant of that first Warlord, and also named Nathaniel Richards. The era of peace and prosperity he lives in is utterly boring to him, and so he devotes himself to studying tapes of 20th-century superheroes — especially the Avengers. As a teen, he is visited by his future self in an effort to jump-start his journey towards conquering. He rejects the older Kang's villainy,  and instead goes back to the past to form the Young Avengers as Iron Lad. However, when he realizes that his presence in the past is starting to affect the time stream, he returns to his era.

He attempts to go back to the past several times as Iron Lad, often accidentally causing a lot of damage. He also becomes the villainous Kid Immortus for a while. In the end, however, he ends up taking his original course of action: He discovers his ancestor's time machine and goes to ancient Egypt . 

Upon arriving in Egypt, Kang uses the weapons and robots he finds among his ancestor's belongings to quickly establish himself as Pharaoh Rama-Tut. As his reign unfolds, Rama-Tut sets himself up as a god and denounces other deities, which annoys Moon Knight's future patron, Khonshu. 

This era of Egypt turns out to be Grand Central Station for time travelers. Rama-Tut has to deal with an assassin named Killpower, a number of villainous organizations, and eventually, the West Coast Avengers. That latter group goes back in time hoping to use Rama-Tut's time machine, as their own only travels backwards. Rama-Tut is, unsurprisingly, uninterested in helping them, but Khonshu protects them from his wrath. Doctor Strange is also around within this era, looking for a soul shard that threatens all of humanity's dreams.

For all their doings within this era, however, the Avengers and Doctor Strange are careful not to mess with its main event: A visit from the Fantastic Four. Rama-Tut clobbers them upon arrival and makes the male members his prisoners while he prepares to marry Sue Storm. Luckily, the Thing gets loose and brings down Rama-Tut's kingdom. Rama-Tut flees in his time machine, attempting to return to his original time.

Becoming Kang

Rama-Tut discovers time travel's imperfections when he tries to return to the 30th century. He briefly winds up in the 20th century, where he meets Doctor Doom . They consider teaming up against the Fantastic Four, but Doom thinks it would be too risky. Later on, Rama-Tut attempts to fool the early Avengers into subduing all other super-powered people on Earth. This gives rise to his armored persona, the Scarlet Centurion. He lures an Avengers team from later in the 20th century to this timeline, hoping to see his more powerful Avengers team defeat them. But the latter-day Avengers triumph, and the Scarlet Centurion is promptly sent back into the timestream. 

He immediately abandons that identity and resumes his Rama-Tut guise, once again trying to make it back to the 30th century. This time, he overshoots it by a thousand years, ending up in the 40th century. He finds a war-torn society that doesn't understand its own technology. Here, the man formerly known as Rama-Tut finally assumes the name Kang the Conqueror, and creates his iconic purple armor. It doesn't take him long to take over this ravaged Earth, and he soon moves on to conquering whole galaxies.

Avengers, Ravonna, and the Celestial Madonna

In Kang's first appearance, captured in 1964's Avengers #8, he takes on the Avengers . Though he initially overwhelms them, Kang loses when Rick Jones sabotages him. Shockingly, he later returns to the Avengers' era, to seek their aid after he falls in love with the rebellious Princess Ravonna. She ultimately sacrifices herself to save Kang, and is placed in high-tech stasis between life and death. Kang goes on to use the Avengers as pawns to gain the power of life and death from the Grandmaster. When he ties the Elder in a cosmic game, however, he chooses death for the Avengers instead of life for Ravonna. This plan is foiled when the Black Knight attacks him, and Kang is left with nothing but regret.

Obsessed with the idea of his eventual successor, Kang becomes determined to kidnap the woman he dubs the Celestial Madonna, who will give birth to the Celestial Messiah, the universe's most powerful being. Narrowing it down to the Scarlet Witch , Agatha Harkness, or Mantis, he captures the Avengers. He is defeated by a future version of himself, who helps the Avengers. This is when Kang learns that he is destined to become Immortus, a time traveler who gives up conquest and makes mysterious moves from Limbo, a dimension outside of time.

The Council Of Kangs

As a result of his constant time-jumping, Kang ends up with a whole host of divergent identities, who are monitored by the Council of Kangs, headquartered in Limbo. The Council plucks defective Kangs out of the timestream and kills them. The Prime Kang from Earth-6311 kills one of his alternate selves after telling him that Ravonna is alive, then pins the murder on the Avengers after bringing them to Limbo. Immortus then reveals he was behind it all, as the Prime Kang went insane after being given a device that gave him the memories of all the Kangs he had killed.

Prime Kang's story then splits off into two timelines. In one, he goes to the 40th century to heal. In the other, he discovers an even bigger conspiracy: The Council Of Cross-Time Kangs, which consists of beings throughout the multiverse who have killed Kang and taken his armor. This group includes Kang-Nebula, a woman who took over the Avengers in order to pierce a phenomenon known as the Time Bubble. The other Kangs move against her, resulting in all of the Kangs being lost in the timestream. 

Living in the Time Bubble

The Prime Kang offshoot lost in the timestream finds himself threatened by the mystical Inferno event , in which a demon attempts to take over the Earth. This Kang can only appear as a sort of ghost — but this is enough to create a new team of Avengers who are crucial in saving the day. The other Kang in the 40th century goes after Mantis again, within the same era, after learning that she is trying to retrieve her son from the alien Cotati she entrusted with raising him. In the end, however, Mantis and the Fantastic Four defeat him.

Prime Kang finds himself trapped in the Time Bubble, an impenetrable field that prevents time travel in a 15-year sweep. It was created from Galactus' dead body by the scheming Black Celestial in order to collapse the entire universe. Nebula lures the Fantastic Four and various Avengers there to pierce the bubble, but all of the various Kangs are killed. It seems like the only one left is the one in the 40th century. 

Citizen Kang

The 40th century's Kang busily expands his empire. Spanning 600 years, it all connects through the city of Chronopolis. At some point, however, he realizes that his desire to rule all of time is blocked by various entities with their own territories, like the Time Variance Authority, a creature called Alioth, and the Congress of Realities. 

Kang-Nebula, it turns out, has survived the Time Bubble, and reveals herself as an alternate version of Ravonna. Assuming the identity of Terminatrix, she uses the Fantastic Four as pawns to attack Kang, who uses the Avengers similarly. They eventually fight, and Kang sacrifices himself to save her. She is forced to put him in stasis as he once did to another version of her, in an effort to find a way to bring him back to life — if only to kill him upon waking.

The Council Of Cross-Time Kangs is attacked by Alioth, an ancient, time-spanning entity. Terminatrix comes into conflict with a future version of herself named Revelation, who rules many thousands of years in the future. Revelation helps revive Kang as Alioth helps eliminate the pesky Council — which is all according to Kang's plan. He and Ravonna reconcile, and rule peacefully together. 

Destiny War

After years of happiness with Ravonna, Kang grows old and bored. Eventually, he is finally ready to go back to ancient Egypt and become Immortus, as he is destined to do. However, he sees a vision of his servitude to the Time-Keepers as Immortus, and it enrages him. He decides to wage an all-out war against Immortus, who is being pressured by his masters to destroy Earth because of the threat it poses to the rest of the galaxy. Kang determines a strategy to get rid of his time rivals, and destroys the technology that allows him to transfer his mind to a new body upon his death. He wants to live on the edge.

Kang teams up with an Avengers group whose members are all plucked from different eras against Immortus and his endless armies from across time. Immortus destroys Chronopolis, and his forces kill Ravonna. Kang escapes, and entrusts an object called the Heart of Forever to the Avengers. This object powered Chronopolis, and gives its wielder the power to alter time without creating a divergent reality. The Avengers' job is to protect the Heart and Rick Jones, who Immortus is trying to kill.

Kang and the Avengers eventually battle Immortus' forces at the end of time. The Time-Keepers try to physically force Kang's transformation into Immortus, but Kang resists and kills them. A separate version of Immortus emerges, as Kang has finally triumphed against the inevitable. 

The Kang Dynasty

Now that his destiny has become his own, Kang is eager for conquest. With his grown son Marcus  acting as the new Scarlet Centurion, Kang takes his giant sword-shaped spaceship, Damocles Base, and declares war on Earth. He claims it's for the Earth's own good, as many threats are headed its way.

Of course, the Avengers oppose him, but Kang is not playing around this time. He conquers the Earth and forces the Wasp, as Avengers' chairwoman , to surrender directly to him. Marcus is supposed to take out the defenses of the Master of the World, but things go awry when he meets Carol Danvers and is immediately charmed. He helps her win the defenses to the Avengers' side. This winds up giving the Avengers just enough of an edge to eventually defeat Kang, with Captain America beating him down in an epic space battle.

Kang is imprisoned by the Avengers, and actually accepts his fate, happy that his son will rule in his stead. But Marcus rescues him from his cell, and continues to lie about helping Carol. Kang is fully aware of this betrayal, but was going to let it go, if Marcus had simply left him to die a legend. Kang reveals that Marcus is actually the latest of many cloned attempts at an heir, and kills him. He cannot abide an heir who lies.

The devil you know

Kang is nothing if not practical, and something that threatens multiple realities also threatens his own interests. Case in point: When Adam Warlock is forced to act to prevent a catastrophe, he creates a future where he becomes the sinister Magus, and wipes out other timelines — including many that include Kang's rule. Kang reacts by rescuing every reality's surviving Starhawk and the Guardians of the Galaxy and using them as his forces. After a number of Guardians die, Star-Lord manages to kill the Magus, restoring the timelines and neatly taking care of Kang's problem.

Kang later realizes that in one timeline that threatened his empire, Ultron killed the Avengers and prevented Kang's rule. So Kang sends team after team of heroes against Ultron, all of whom are killed. Of course, if you strain the timeline too much, it breaks. Kang creates a time bleed and time loop around his battles with Ultron, forcing Immortus to step in. He convinces the Next Avengers (the children of the modern team) to recruit the current Avengers to talk sense into Ultron before all the fighting ever began. Knowing that all of time stands to be annihilated, Ultron agrees to surrender. Kang destroys him, restoring the timeline.

The Apocalypse Twins

Kang is simultaneously obsessed with securing a successor and worried that powerful children might one day group up and overthrow him. The Celestial Messiah, Apocalypse, and the various Marcuses are all the focus of this tension at various times, but his obsession with the Apocalypse Twins nearly tops them all.

Born to a mutant woman named Ichisumi, Kang kidnaps the twins in their infancy. He raises them harshly, telling the young mutants that they will never live in peace with humans. Kang makes a fatal mistake when he allows them to steal a powerful weapon, travel back to 21st century Earth, and kill the Celestial leader, Arishem. They then found a new world just for mutants, and not only leave Earth to be destroyed by Celestial retaliation, but also set up a tachyon dam to prevent anyone from altering history.

Kang eventually finds a way through by projecting the minds of his pawns, the Chronos Corps, into the 21st century. His plan works, and he is able to access that timeline and defeat the twins, as well as absorb energy from the Celestial executioner, Exitar. Immortus, ever the spoilsport, sends his own team of Avengers to stop him, with Havoc cutting Kang off from the energy. Kang's overall scheme to gain ultimate power fails, but he does manage to successfully protect his timeline.

Adopting Ahura

You think Kang would learn not to kidnap other people's kids, but no. After Thanos destroys Attilan, home of the Inhumans , Kang kidnaps Ahura, son of the Inhumans' leader, Black Bolt. At this point, Black Bolt is chiefly worried about the destruction of the universe, so he allows Kang to keep him safe.

Black Bolt later changes his mind and moves to get his son back, but Kang is aware of this betrayal. He defeats Black Bolt and trains Ahura in the ways of conquest. He has Ahura attack various eras, which winds up killing all of the Inhuman royal family's ancestors, wiping them from history. Kang doesn't expect Ahura to ever discover this morbid fact, but he does. Enraged, Ahura kills Kang and takes up his mantle. Ahura then goes back in time to kill his birth parents.

The Inhumans one-up Kang by rescuing Ahura from before he was tainted by Kang. The result is a clean slate for him — but it also means that Kang isn't dead. He attacks the Inhumans with a huge army, but Ahura possesses Kang and fixes all the damage he has done to his family. Then he makes Kang leave the Inhumans alone forever. It is the most thorough defeat of Kang's career.

A variety of Kangs and a variety of futures

Thanks to the timestream being so glitchy and Kang's indifferent carelessness, he often accidentally creates different versions of himself. One of them is Mr. Gryphon, who is trapped in the early 21st century. Unable to time travel, he sets about conquering Earth. Lacking an army, he uses his advanced knowledge to create a financial empire. He tries to bring a Chitauri fleet to Earth, and when that fails, tries to take Thor's hammer, because of its time-bending properties. Thor knocks him into the timestream instead.

Another forward-looking version of Kang sees an all-powerful version of Thanos in the future, who is about to destroy the entire multiverse. Thanos captures Kang, but Adam Warlock frees him. Kang distracts Thanos, and Warlock retrieves the present-day Thanos to stop the future Thanos. 

What's next for Kang? Probably more conquering, time-jumping, and heir-seeking. It's a safe bet that he'll find some way to involve his favorite playmates, the Avengers, in his machinations. While he's never been completely successful, he has never stopped trying — and that's why fans love him. 

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Kang went from Marvel’s weirdest villain to the MCU’s future

He rides a giant sphinx

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by Zach Rabiroff

For nearly 60 years, the time-traveling malcontent Kang — who makes his big-screen debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania this week after a tease in Loki season 1 — has been a staple of Marvel Comics . Yet if you mention his name to a Marvel fan, don’t be surprised if a certain familiar look comes into their eye; that glazed, vacant, middle-distance stare of instant apathy that can only mean:

“Oh, God. Kang again? ”

In space, no one can hear you scream — but that doesn't stop an evil-doer from trying. This week, Polygon celebrates all forms of sci-fi villainy because someone has to (or else).

The trouble is that Kang, with his one-dimensional villainy and retro-Silver Age sneering, has become synonymous with impenetrable storylines that are about 10 steps too complicated for their own good: navel-gazing, self-referential comics that obsess over their own continuity for continuity’s sake. You would think, if you were a multidimensional warlord from the far-flung year of 3000 A.D., that life would at least be interesting. But boredom, ironically, is a sensation that Kang himself would be the first to sympathize with.

This, readers, is an unconscionable crime greater than any Kang himself could have devised. There is, or ought to be, nothing boring about a garishly costumed, flamboyantly over-the-top, multidimensional time-traveler who periodically dresses up like an Egyptian pharaoh for kicks. All of which is to say, Kang is great when Kang is recognized for what he is: the silliest damned villain in the Marvel multiverse.

Who is Kang?

Born Nathaniel Richards in a distant 31st century where war, conflict, and struggle are unknown, the man who would become the Conqueror found it all utterly, interminably dull. Resolving to emulate the deeds of great warlords from Alexander and Genghis Khan onward, he thus jetted backward through time for the cheap thrill of conquering everything and everybody in his path. (If you’re wondering, Kang is a distant descendant of Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, but that’s less a central building block of his character and more a piece of trivia.)

For comic writer Kurt Busiek, that simple premise is the key to unlocking what makes Kang interesting in the first place. As the writer of more than one major Kang storyline during his tenure on the Avengers title, Busiek would be the first to admit that he has, in his words, “some skin in the game” when it comes to this character. But as he tells Polygon via email, “I think he works best when he isn’t treated as some generic time-traveling villain… Any story where Kang uses time travel to sneak around and set things up for him to win easily in some coming conflict seems to me to miss the point of the character. He doesn’t want easy. If he did he could have stayed at home.”

Busiek has homed in on the powerful secret to good Kang stories throughout history, the basic fact about the character that so many writers seem to miss. Kang the Conqueror is ridiculous. He is chaotically over-the-top and flamboyantly evil, and he’s the first person in the world to admit it. He doesn’t even have superpowers: Just an endless array of deus ex machina future tech. He is gloriously, willfully, and unapologetically weird . And that’s just the way Marvel should keep him.

To understand that central weirdness, you need to go back and look at Kang’s very first comic appearance — a story in which he isn’t even Kang at all.

Born in Arizona (in the year 3000)

In 1963, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were still just at the cusp of their most fruitful years of creative partnership. Even so, they already had it in them to produce the periodic glimmer of mad genius in their work. In that year’s Fantastic Four #19 , the foursome travel back in time to ancient Egypt in search of lost medical technology, only to be immediately taken captive by soldiers of the mad Pharaoh Rama-Tut: in actual fact, a megalomaniacal, ray gun-wielding time-traveler.

Every part of Rama-Tut is unignorably, and seemingly deliberately, ridiculous, from a panel showing him drawing his inspiration from 1950s TV cowboy dramas to his getup that strongly resembles the costume from a 1978 Steve Martin routine. Most impressively of all, the time machine he takes back to the past turns out to be the actual, literal Sphinx: the panel showing him bringing the monument to a crashing thud after zipping through space-time remains a thing of beauty six decades later.

Even at the outset, then, there was nothing about Rama-Tut that readers would have been expected to take particularly seriously, even by the standards of Silver Age Marvel Comics. He was also a character that might have been just as easily forgotten, were it not for an odd and surprising decision just shy of one year later. In 1964’s Avengers #8 , the Kirby and Lee team introduce us to a brazenly self-confident warlord from the future, intent on picking a fight with the Earth’s greatest heroes.

This, for the first time, is Kang in the identity and purple-bedecked costume in which we’d come to know him. And right out of the gate, he exhibits all the preposterously extra personality you might expect, from his sexily arrogant insouciance to his obnoxious certainty in his own success. When we first catch sight of him, he’s lounging like a Playboy centerfold on what can only be described as an invisible flying beanbag chair, and lackadaisically declaring, “No need for such unseemly speed! Time means nothing to Kang, the Conqueror!!” (Thor’s deadpan reply, “I find his confidence disturbing,” is a model of perfect Stan Lee comic timing.)

But most important of all is a surprise reveal: Kang is none other than a future version of Rama-Tut, having been knocked off course on his way back from Egypt and shot forward to his own future before zipping back to our own present. This was unusual! A bit of unexpected, and totally unnecessary, linking of continuity that gave a simple character just enough head-spinning complication to be mind-trippy in an early-’60s sort of way. It was a brilliant, oddball move from Kirby and Lee, and it made Kang just bizarre enough to become a fixture in the Marvel firmament.

And it was about to get weirder, because two months later, Lee (this time alongside journeyman Kirby replacement Don Heck) introduced a third time-traveling ne’er-do-well , this one going by the name Immortus. Unlike the immediate Kang/Tut connection, it’s unlikely that Lee had any idea at this early stage that he was multiplying Kang’s identity yet again.

And yet, despite themselves, they were, which brings us to the next absurd thing we need to understand about Kang: No matter how much continuity-loathing readers might hate him, it’s not nearly as much as he hates himself.

Time can change me

Roughly a decade after Kang and Immortus were first introduced in Avengers , writer Steve Englehart opted to draw a connection between the two characters, establishing that Immortus was, in fact, the farthest-future iteration of Kang, mellowed out and now dedicated to stopping the more disastrous mistakes of his brash, boneheaded younger self.

Englehart explained his reasoning to Polygon via email: “When I wrote my first Kang story, people told me no one had ever written a coherent time travel story; there were always things that didn’t connect. I tried my best to solve that myself, and I think any Kang story that connects all the dots has the potential to be good, while any story that hasn’t been thought all the way through is never gonna get there.”

Englehart’s editor and predecessor as Avengers writer, Roy Thomas, concurs, explaining via email, “Any time travel story mostly just has to involve the reader in either solving an historical question or in bringing about (or avoiding!) a particular historical outcome. That was the basis [...] of the handful of Kang stories I wrote.”

No surprise, then, that writers have increasingly made halting his own alternate selves one of Kang’s central preoccupations from Englehart’s day to our own. Years later (or maybe earlier, this is Kang we’re talking about, after all), writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung would introduce the character of Iron Lad in their 2005 Young Avengers : an ersatz junior Iron Man, revealed (to the surprise of both readers and teammates) to be a teen version of Kang desperate to avoid his future of villainy.

Kiddie Kang may not have been successful, timelines being cruel bastards in the end, but his desperate war against his adult self remains one of the most purely enjoyable Kang stories in recent years. And if all of this twisting and turning through the timeline is starting to sound like more trouble than it’s worth, don’t worry: Kang has a solution to that, too.

Kangdom come

From Kang’s earliest days, Marvel has had the wisdom to embrace the contradictions and time loops in his biography for what they are: gloriously stupid and perfectly bizarre. Consider the early instance (from Kirby and Lee’s Fantastic Four Annual #2 ) in which Rama-Tut has a chance encounter with fellow time-lost villain Doctor Doom while floating through space-time. After briefly considering killing one another, the two of them are halted in their tracks by a sudden freakout that they might actually be the same person from different points in the timestream. The ensuing standoff is the Kirby/Lee sci-fi version of your best stoned dorm room conversation. It might be the greatest Marvel Comics sequence ever published.

Indeed, so many Kangs ended up populating the various Marvel timelines and multiverses, and so many writers turned to the trope as an easy shorthand or story escape card, that the situation gradually became untenable for character and publisher alike. So it was with this in mind that writers Roger Stern and Walt Simonson, alongside artist John Buscema, introduced the Council of Cross-Time Kangs, a Kang Gang assembled from across all timelines, dedicated to keeping the unrulier Kangs and their universes in line. The gathering turns out to be big enough to fill a whole-ass arena, hootin’ and hollerin’ their way to world domination.

It’s the most bonkers concept in a career devoted to them, and it exemplifies the Kang ethos in a nutshell: Kang is everything, everywhere, and everybody he needs to be. It’s always, constantly, too much, and therefore doomed to failure, but that doesn’t matter. The fun is in the idiocy to begin with.

So when Kang stories fail, it’s because latter-day comic writers, working in the shadow of Watchmen and Dark Knight and the conviction that comics aren’t just for kids, can’t wrap their heads around the notion of stories becoming beautiful by grace of their unabashed stupidity. They trip over themselves by feeling the one thing Kang himself never feels: embarrassed by Kang.

They might do well to remember Busiek’s words of wisdom when it comes to the character. “He’s not Dr. Doom, he’s not the Red Skull, he’s not Magneto,” Busiek says. “He’s Alexander the Great in purple pinstriped hip boots at the head of a sci-fi army. And every battle is do or die, because otherwise you ain’t really alive.”

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Kang the Conqueror - the powers and origin of the MCU villain

Everything you need to know about Kang the Conqueror, the next big MCU supervillain

Kang the Conqueror is now starring in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, after actor Jonathan Majors made his debut as Kang Variant He Who Remains in season 1 of the Loki Disney Plus series.

And spoiler warning for Quantumania - it may be an MCU 'Empire' moment like Avengers: Infinity War was to Endgame considering Kang the Conqueror will return and presumably be ruling over a dynasty the Avengers have to go up against in 2025's Avengers: Kang Dynasty , that leads directly into 2026's Avengers: Secret Wars.

One of Marvel Comics ' greatest and oldest supervillains, debuting nearly 60 years ago in 1964's Avengers #8 , Kang is the master of time and space in Marvel comic books, a conqueror (as his title suggests) of multiple eras and worlds in the Multiverse.

Time travel in genre fiction is often head-scratching and paradox-inducing, and Kang's history is by no means an exception. His six-decade history is highly complex and sometimes daunting (a less kind way would be to say confusing), especially considering his incessant habit of creating variant identities like he Who Remains.

But despite all his complex continuity, Kang is also regarded as one of the Avengers' greatest villains with legitimate depth and nuance as a character. And with his connections to the wider Marvel Universe, including the Young Avengers, Iron Man, and especially the Fantastic Four, the character seems poised to become a lynchpin of the new phase of the MCU.

With Kang's MCU introduction now on the books in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the concept of his variants set to play a significant role in what's next for the MCU, Newsarama is firing up the TemPad (or Time Platform, to use comic book parlance) and taking you on a deep dive through the history - or histories - of Kang the Conqueror, and how his many lives could fit into the MCU.

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Who is Kang?

Answering the question of who Kang is might be the hardest part of understanding him.

Kang was originally a 31st-century scientist named Nathaniel Richards – a descendant of both Reed Richards and Doctor Doom, more on that later - but it's not so cut-and-dried as that. 

Kang has taken numerous identities throughout his history, often interacting with Marvel's heroes as a variety of villains, some of whom have even appeared simultaneously to oppose each other. This has created a huge web of appearances of Kang, some of which are contradictory and many of which take place at similar points in the timeline of the Marvel Universe, but at wildly different points in Kang's life.

While it would be all but impossible to quickly run down every time Kang has shown up or to create a true timeline of his appearances, there are some significant things to know about him that are likely to inform his role in the MCU.

As we said, Kang started out as Nathaniel Richards – a descendant of both Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, and his arch-enemy Victor Von Doom.

Kang (then still simply Nathanial Richards) first discovered time travel through the power of his ancestor Doom's time platform, using the technology to travel to ancient Egypt and become the pharaoh Rama-Tut – a villain who was defeated by a time-displaced Fantastic Four, who set the timeline right and sent Nathaniel Richards far into the future.

This is where the identity of Kang comes in.

Arriving hundreds of years into the future of his own timeline, Nathaniel uses his knowledge of time travel and the technology of many different eras to conquer this future world, taking the name Kang, and vowing to conquer other eras as well, with his goal to eventually rule the entirety of history all at once.

Since then (and before then, and after then, and... time travel is a lot), Kang has challenged the Avengers numerous times, always attempting to defeat them and conquer Earth – and he's employed multiple identities to do it.

In fact, Kang has had so many different identities that there's literally an entire organization of his different incarnations, many of whom really don't get along, called the Council of Cross-Time Kangs (Loki episode 6 even makes a nod to the Council - we'll get into it).

So who are the other identities Kang has employed? Here are just a few.

Kang's primary alt-identity is Immortus, a much older version of the villain who has often run afoul of both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, and who is an agent of the Time-Keepers , the last living beings of the Marvel Universe in Immortus's timeline. 

He is tasked with maintaining the integrity of the timeline, something he's often taken harsh and downright villainous tactics to pursue. He appears to have been adapted into the MCU under the name 'He Who Remains,' a separate Marvel Comics character who is not a Kang variant.

And we mentioned Rama-Tut, an early enemy of the Fantastic Four, and Nathaniel Richards's first villainous identity, who traveled in a flying pyramid.

Then there's Iron Lad of the Young Avengers – an armored hero who took his inspiration from Tony Stark, and who was actually a teenage version of Kang attempting to try his life over again as a hero. Iron Lad tragically returned to his own timeline due to issues with changing the past, leaving his life and memories as a hero behind to fulfill his destiny as Kang.

There's the Scarlet Centurion, an alien warrior who had a disturbing and complex relationship with Carol Danvers (AKA Captain Marvel), but ultimately proved to be another identity of Kang's – one which he later passed on to his son Marcus, an Avengers villain/supporting character with his own complex story.

Finally, Kang's other major identity is that of Victor Timely, a turn-of-the-century American living in Illinois in the early 1900s – who eventually inspired Professor Phineas Horton to build the original android Human Torch who fought alongside Captain America in World War II. The android body of the Human Torch was later used to build the Vision – who went on to try to defeat Kang by kidnapping him as a child, resulting in an even more fractured version of Kang with even more identities.

Interestingly, Kang's identity of Victor Timely gets a few nods in Loki, with the MCU version of Kang's lover Ravonna Renslayer 's real name revealed as Rebecca Tourminet, an alias she used while Kang was going by Victor Timely, as well as the appearance of Alioth, an old enemy of Kang who is his most powerful rival in comic books, and who played a big role in Avengers: The Terminatrix Objective , which introduced Ravonna's Rebecca Tourminet alias.

That said, the version of Kang who comes to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is based on the main version - though with at least one of his variants already onscreen, and a whole host of them waiting in the wings, it's very possible we'll see some of his other identities pop-up as well.

How does Kang fit into the Marvel Universe?

As we said, Kang has deep connections to many Marvel heroes. Most obviously, he shares a name with Reed Richards' father Nathaniel Richards. Complicating things even more, the original Nathaniel Richards (Reed's father) is also a time-traveler and in some realities has also been Kang, though in most cases they are descendants who share a name.

He's also a descendant of Doctor Doom, Reed's arch-enemy, and used Doom's time-travel technology to develop his own tech and weapons. He's even teamed up with Doom to challenge Marvel's heroes more than once.

And of course, there's Kang's Iron Man connection, not just through Kang's time as Iron Lad, but through one of the most notorious (and disliked) Avengers stories ever. In ' The Crossing ,' Kang manipulates Tony Stark into becoming a villain, at which point he dies and is replaced with a teen version of Tony Stark from earlier in the timeline, all of which was eventually reversed through even more comic book science.

Kang also once teamed up with the Apocalypse Twins, mutants who were twisted by the X-Men villain Apocalypse to be his successors. Interestingly enough, it's that story that develops Kang's connection to the Wasp, who is trapped in a dystopian future world by Kang where she marries Havok of the X-Men and even has a child, though the relationship and the child were eventually erased when Wasp and Havok returned home (though not all the memories of that time went away).

Weirdly, the one time Kang fought Ant-Man and the Wasp by themselves, it was in a corporate tie-in comic for Synchrony Bank in which Ant-Man learns to open a savings account (yes, really).

Most importantly, Kang once actually managed to conquer the Avengers' whole timeline in the story Avengers: The Kang Dynasty (which lends its name to the just-announced film), taking over the world and imprisoning almost everyone who might be able to stop him, including Earth's Mightiest Heroes. 

Of course, he was eventually defeated – but not before he and Captain America fought to the finish as a pair of gigantic holograms clashing in space above the Earth.

What are Kang's powers?

Kang actually doesn't have any powers of his own – but he is a gifted military strategist and combatant and has access not just to extensive weaponry from across all eras of history including the far future, he has unparalleled time-travel technology.

That weaponry includes his vaunted Damocles Base, a massive time-traveling starship shaped like a sword, which holds a massive arsenal of its own.

In the past, Kang has managed to launch attacks across multiple time periods at once, including in the story Avengers Forever , in which Immortus brings together a team of Avengers from across different eras to challenge his younger self.

And aside from his weapons, Kang is sometimes backed by an army of potentially trillions of soldiers from all across time and space, which he has often employed against his enemies.

Likewise, Loki episode 6's variant Kang, He Who Remains, demonstrates that he doesn't seem to have powers of his own, but advanced knowledge of what will happen in his entire timeline up to a certain point, and the technology to manipulate time around him both in response to, and in preparation for his enemies.

All of that said, Kang does have one major weakness – his strict and strange code of honor, which has often led to his downfall. Though he's sometimes bent or tried to break these rules, Kang has a personal code that prevents him from defeating his enemies through treachery, such as going back in time and killing them as children. 

To Kang, conquest only counts if it is won through hard combat – and only if your enemies know you've beaten them.

How could Kang affect the MCU?

Kang is more than just a simple villain – he's a gateway to a whole different side of the Marvel Universe, including the Fantastic Four, the Young Avengers , Doctor Doom, and much more, almost all of whom have been confirmed or bandied about as potential expansions for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Kang's inclusion as a villain for Ant-Man is interesting – aside from Kang's run-in with Wasp as part of an Avengers team, Kang doesn't have many specific comic book connections to Ant-Man's world. But in the MCU, Kang may be a perfect fit for an Ant-Man villain. 

For one thing, it's Ant-Man's knowledge of and access to the Quantum Realm that made the time-travel aspect of Avengers: Endgame possible, so it could be the case that Kang even uses similar Quantum Realm technology - which would put him square on a collision course with Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Before then though, we now know a few more key details about Kang and his place in the MCU. For one thing, he's now directly tied to the TVA in an alternate timeline, with his statue (complete with Jonathan Majors' likeness and Kang's comic book costume) shown in the offices of a Multiversal version of the embattled organization.

And for another, Loki episode 6 confirms that it was indeed a battle of Kangs from many worlds that set up the Multiversal war laid out in Loki episode 1, which occurred when many different Kang variants developed Multiverse traveling tech at the same time. 

First banding together in an uneasy alliance - similar to the Council of Cross-Time Kangs from comic books - the variants all eventually went to war to become the one true master of the Multiverse, with He Who Remains (again, apparently based on Immortus) seeming to win by creating the TVA and pruning every timeline that gets too close to challenging him.

Now, with He Who Remains seemingly dead at Sylvie's hands, the Multiverse seems to be rapidly, uncontrollably expanding, likely leading directly to the circumstances of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Beyond all of that, there are all the ways Kang's presence could affect other Marvel characters' introductions to the MCU - namely the Fantastic Four, or potentially even the X-Men.

For one thing, there's the possibility that this version of Kang/Nathaniel Richards actually is Reed Richards's father - which would open up a whole other can of worms about the future of the MCU and how the Fantastic Four may come to join the film franchise, especially if that meant MCU Reed Richards would be born in the 31st century.

And of course, there's the chance that Kang and his Multiversal mayhem could be the ticket to bringing in the X-Men in some form or fashion - especially considering Deadpool is making the jump from Fox's X-Men franchise to the MCU in November 2024's Untitled Deadpool Movie, and bringing Hugh Jackman's Wolverine along with him.

Whatever the case, the floodgates that have been opened by the first appearance of one of Kang's variants in the MCU mean that anything - and anyone - is now fair game for the MCU, especially with Secret Wars on the horizon.

Kang is bar-none one of the greatest time-traveling villains of all time . 

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

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Avengers 5 writer explains how endgame's time travel affected kang plans.

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Recasting Wasp For Avengers 5: 10 Best Actor Choices After Evangeline Lilly's Recent Comments

Rdj's recent marvel comments debunk iron man theory on thanos being right about tony stark, zack snyder nailed why endgame's directors returning for avengers 5 & 6 is so huge.

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty writer Jeff Loveness reveals how the time travel featured in Avengers: Endgame altered his plans for Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the upcoming Phase 6 team-up movie. After being teased throughout Phases 1 and 2 of the MCU, Josh Brolin's Thanos was finally unveiled in all his glory in 2018's Avengers: Infinity War . After defeating Earth's mightiest heroes, the big bad was eventually killed in the subsequent film due to a clever time travel plan. Now, Kang the Conqueror, the MCU's next big villain, is set to be introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania before serving as the primary antagonist in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in 2025.

In a recent interview with SFX Magazine (via The Direct ), Loveness, the screenwriter tapped for both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty , reveals how Avengers: Endgame caused changes to his depiction of Kang. The writer explains that because the MCU has already featured a lot of time travel, he was forced to broaden his vision for Kang, exploring the multiversal aspect of the villain instead of just his mastery of time-hopping. While Loveness doesn't reveal too much about what's in store for audiences when it comes to Kang, he does tease that there are some " curveball " surprises to come. Check out Loveness' full comment below:

“I haven’t seen a time-travelling character done with such intricacy and exploration. I’m a little bummed because 'Endgame' did so much time travel, so you almost need to broaden him out a little bit too, maybe broaden out into the multiverse a little more, the dimensionality of the character, the limitless freedom he has while also being completely uprooted from his time and himself. Is it just going to all fall apart again because another version of him can destroy it as well? What’s the purpose of building Rome if you are going to burn it down the next day, because they want to have their own Rome? “I certainly took a ton from the comics but the joy of these movies is you also get to put some of yourself into it, you get to put a completely new spin because if you just do a 100% comic book adaptation people know all the tricks and what to expect. You have to use that as a foundation and then throw a curveball. I’ve tried to lean into him being a more interesting character than people expect, hopefully.”

Related: Iron Man & Thanos Parallel Means Steve Rogers Must Return To Face Kang

How Kang Will Be Different From Thanos

Thanos, a purple alien with an eye for military strategy, boasts superhuman strength and durability, eventually becoming even stronger after acquiring all of the Infinity Stones. The Infinity Stones, once united in the Infinity Gauntlet, give Thanos the ability to manipulate time and space as he chooses, giving him a major edge over the Avengers. Kang, on the other hand, is a human being, meaning there's already one major difference between the two villains already. Kang relies on highly advanced technology to give him his powers, with an arsenal including a time-traveling ship, Damocles Base, and weaponry from the far reaches of the future.

Kang's technology gives him enhanced strength, speed, durability, and stamina. In addition to the ability to travel through time as he pleases, the comics also see Kang wield energy-based weapons and defenses, including holograms and force fields. Interestingly, however, whatever similarities and differences exist between Kang and Thanos' specific abilities, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty could explore more variants of Kang. Two variants of Thanos are featured in Avengers: Endgame but the variants are basically the same and they never meet. Kang's variants, on the other hand, vary wildly in terms of their power level and general demeanor, and the inclusion of these variants could end up really differentiating Majors' villain from Brolin's.

In some ways, then, Kang could end up actually feeling like multiple different characters depending on which variants are introduced in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty . Furthermore, he could prove especially difficult to defeat because if one dies, another could potentially take his place. From Scarlet Centurion to Victor Timely, Mr. Gryphon to Kamala Kang, there have been multiple different Kangs featured in the Marvel comic books , each more wacky than the last. While it remains to be seen what Loveness has in store for fans with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty , it seems like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the MCU's newest big bad.

More: Ant-Man 3 Makes Iron Man's Endgame Death Even Better

Source: SFX Magazine (via The Direct )

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What Is Kang the Conqueror’s Time Chair and How Does It Work? Answered and Explained

With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ‘s release date fast approaching, viewers have been trying to pick apart the promotional materials for any hints or reveals. So far, Marvel has revealed that M.O.D.O.K. is appearing in the film, teased Ant-Man’s (Paul Rudd) death, showed Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) suit up, and hinted at Kang the Conqueror’s (Jonathan Majors) motive . What viewers are really excited about, though, is Kang. He is slated to be the major villain in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania after first making his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) debut as the variant, He Who Remains, in Loki .

In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is considered one of the most powerful supervillains in the Marvel universe. He is set apart from other villains in that he is one of the few who actually temporarily succeeded in world domination. With his genius-level intellect, futuristic technology , and time-travel capabilities, there is little he can’t do. Meanwhile, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will not be Kang’s last appearance in the MCU. He is shaping up to have a major role in Phase 5 and Phase 6, with Phase 6 concluding with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty .

Hence, we’re very curious to see what aspects of his comic book counterpart he will retain and how the MCU is setting him up for a large-scale rise to power. So far, we’ve been interested to see him wear his classic blue suit from the comic books and already sporting battle scars on his face. However, he is also already armed with more than his powerful futuristic suit. In exclusive first-look images released by Empire Magazine , Kang is seen sitting in a chair. At first glance, it seems to be just a futuristic-looking chair, but comic fans will recognize it as his time chair.

What is Kang’s time chair and what powers it?

A new image of Kang The Conqueror (and his time chair) in #Quantumania has been released! [Via: @empiremagazine ] pic.twitter.com/J0k00XKcbK — Ant-Man News ? (@AntManNews) January 14, 2023

As said above, Kang the Conqueror has a lot of technology at his disposal. However, his time chair is truly his biggest source of power and resources. After all, Kang the Conqueror is human with no innate power. All of the power he has attained, like his ability to access technology from any century and to dominate worlds, comes from his ability to time travel. Meanwhile, it is his time chair that gives him the ability to travel through space and time. In addition to space and time travel, he can often be seen using the chair for flight and defensive purposes, such as generating powerful force fields.

What it does is pretty simple, but how it works is less so. In the comics, Kang used the chair to travel through time, even once going back in time to study Steve Rogers during World War II . The closest readers got to understanding the inner workings of the technology, was when it was revealed the chair was actually based on 21st-century Stark technology. However, the MCU may have already revealed what powers Kang’s chair: Pym particles. In Avengers: Endgame , Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) merged his technology with Hank Pym’s (Michael Douglas) Pym particles, with the combination allowing him and the Avengers to achieve time travel through the Quantum realm.

Kevin Feige also teased Pym particles being the source of Kang’s time chair’s powers. He told Empire Magazine : “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 any when  he wants if he can get it online. If only he had access to genius scientists with Pym particles.”

With its time travel capabilities, Kang’s time chair is the key to his rise in power. In the MCU, it seems as if Pym particles are the key to powering Kang’s chair.

(featured image: Disney)

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The faces of Kang: What Marvel comics can tell us about the MCU's new supervillain

From Rama-Tut to Immortus, here is our guide to the many variants of Kang.

Christian Holub is a writer covering comics and other geeky pop culture. He's still mad about 'Firefly' getting canceled.

Kang is here, Kang is coming. Following the blockbuster opening weekend of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , the Marvel Cinematic Universe has officially unveiled its next overarching supervillain threat. But while Thanos controlled different elements of the universe via his Infinity Gauntlet, Kang ( Jonathan Majors ) instead embodies various aspects of evil in a self that is split across the multiverse.

After all, Kang is a time traveler. And as certain sci-fi movies like Primer and Tenet have previously demonstrated, time travelers sometimes end up replicating themselves as they embark on simultaneous, divergent life paths. Well, Kang has been doing this for decades in the pages of Marvel comics, and the post-credits scenes of Quantumania make clear that his many variants will come into play on screen in the next few years.

Kang is an emblematic character for Marvel comics, in that he was originally created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby but, due to his multiplicity, has had important elements added by many other writers and artists over the years. What follows is our guide to the most important Kang identities, as well as which Marvel comics provide the best background for this supervillain as Phase 5 continues.

Kang, the Pharaoh

Kang wasn't even Kang at first. The original canonical appearance of this multi-faceted character came in the pages of Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four . Issue #19 of the formative Marvel superhero comic saw Reed Richards take his family on a trip to ancient Egypt after discovering hieroglyphics that convinced him the pharaohs may have had a cure for blindness. They soon found themselves face-to-face with Egyptian ruler Rama-Tut, who astonished them all by revealing that he already knew of the Fantastic Four, and had access to futuristic technology beyond even Reed's imagination.

This was because Rama-Tut was a time traveler from the 40th century, and the great Egyptian sphinx was his time machine. The Fantastic Four eventually got the upper hand and made it back to their own time, but that wasn't the last they saw of Rama-Tut. He was officially retconned as a variant of Kang the Conqueror in later issues of Avengers and remains an integral part of the Kang identity to this day. After all, though Kang is usually described as "the Conqueror," Rama-Tut is a ruler . His status quo is one of peace and prosperity, and thus Kang has been known to slide back into ancient Egypt and reassume the Rama-Tut identity whenever he needs a break. The sphinx time machine is also an incredibly cool visual concept, and later artists like Carlos Pacheco (in Avengers Forever ) and Carlos Magno (in the recent five-issue Kang the Conqueror miniseries) have ably improved on Kirby's original design.

As a side note, Kang's origin as Rama-Tut demonstrates the complexity of integrating the Fantastic Four into the MCU. Marvel super-producer Kevin Feige just told EW that he wants the Fantastic Four to be "a big pillar of the MCU going forward, just the way they've been in the comics," but the whole reason the Fantastic Four are such an integral part of Marvel comics is that they were the pioneers of this new superhero age. Certain icons like Captain America and Namor the Sub-Mariner predate them, but the first 100 issues of Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four introduced a plethora of characters and concepts that have gone on to fuel Marvel creativity and continuity for decades. Many of these (including but not limited to Black Panther, the Inhumans, and ol' Kang here) are already a part of the MCU, and thus it will be a difficult task to make the Fantastic Four as important on screen as they are in comics history.

Kang, the Conqueror

A year after Rama-Tut debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four, Kang's main identity was introduced by Kirby and Lee in Avengers #8. This is the iconic design — complete with green tunic, purple armor, and blue face mask — that endures to this day, and that Majors took to the screen in Quantumania . This is Kang the Conqueror, the character's most common identity.

Unlike Rama-Tut, who seeks to subjugate the ancient past to his future technology, or Immortus, who seeks to preserve the future (see below), Kang the Conqueror strives to dominate the multiverse through blood and strength. Wherever he lands (be it the ancient past, the far future, or the Quantum Realm), he seeks to conquer. In his first appearance, Kang threatened the United Nations with global takeover, and successfully impressed the Avengers with his transparent hover chair and nearly impenetrable force field. He was eventually thwarted by the Avengers — particularly Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, which adds extra resonance to his first MCU appearance coming in an Ant-Man and the Wasp movie.

Kang returned to menace the Earth with a gigantic sword-shaped spaceship in the 2001 Avengers storyline "Kang Dynasty" — which, though it shares a title with the next planned Avengers movie , probably won't have much in common with that project since it only features Kang the Conqueror and his son Marcus as the Scarlet Centurion, rather than the whole gamut of Kangs that are assembling in the MCU.

Even more than conquering Earth, Kang has sought to conquer himself. The 1986 Avengers issues #267-269 by writer Roger Stern and artist John Buscema introduced the Council of Kangs, which sought to narrow down the many Kang variants that had been created by the character's constant time travel. Taking a page from the film Highlander , released that same year, this storyline saw the Kangs kill each other until only one was left. Something like this has apparently already happened in the MCU, with He Who Remains as the one left standing. But after Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) killed He Who Remains in the season 1 finale of Loki , all those various Kangs have come back into existence along with the multiverse.

Kang, the Immortal

If there's one thing Kang despises more than anything, it's his own destiny. Introduced just two months after Kang in the pages of Avengers #10, Immortus is an all-knowing master of time who rules over Limbo, an abstract realm outside of normal reality, and strives to protect the future. Like Rama-Tut before him, Immortus was eventually retconned (in Giant-Size Avengers #3) to be another variant of Kang. Not just that, but subsequent stories have made clear that the old, wizened Immortus is Kang's endpoint future self — and Kang hates that. After all, what kind of bloodthirsty conqueror wants to become a static wizard?

One of the single best Kang comic stories is the 12-issue series Avengers Forever by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Carlos Pacheco, and it revolves around a cosmic struggle between Kang and Immortus. Immortus wants to protect the multiverse from dangerous realities where the Avengers become an interstellar empire, while Kang wants to prevent himself from becoming Immortus, and a team of time-displaced heroes (including the Wasp, two different versions of Hank Pym, and a disillusioned characterization of Captain America from the '70s) are stuck in the middle. Given its depiction of a war between different Kang variants and its use of the Time Keepers and the Time Variance Authority, Avengers Forever is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the source material of the MCU's take on Kang. It's also a hell of a good read on its own — when Pacheco died last year of ALS , many hailed Avengers Forever as his artistic masterpiece .

It's worth noting that Immortus shares several similarities with Majors' portrayal of He Who Remains in Loki , such as his flowing purple robes, throne at the end of time, and desire to preserve the integrity of the space-time continuum. But even though He Who Remains is dead, Immortus still seems likely to be a factor in the rest of the MCU's Kang saga, with Majors wearing something very similar to his comic outfit in the Quantumania credits scene . If there's one thing to learn from Kang's comic stories, it's to never underestimate Immortus.

Kang, the Hero

Could Kang have turned out differently and become a superhero, rather than a supervillain? After several failed attempts to change his future, Kang has pivoted in recent years to trying to change his past. But as always, there are unintended consequences. Traveling back in time to his own adolescence to get revenge on his childhood bullies, Kang instead inspired his younger self to embark upon his own time travel and become the superhero known as Iron Lad. This is the catalyst event that set Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung's original Young Avengers comic in motion; the titular team was originally assembled and led by Iron Lad, until he had to return to his own era and (like so many other Kangs before him) make peace with his role in the timeline.

It should be clear by now that the MCU is gearing up for a Young Avengers project at some point , though it's less clear when exactly that will happen. Canonical team members Kate Bishop/Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld), Cassie Lang/Stature (Kathryn Newton), and America Chavez ( Xochitl Gomez ) seem ready to go, but the Scarlet Witch's twin sons remain pre-adolescent/non-existent, and they're pretty important to the team. Marvel Studios still hasn't announced anything official… is that because the Kang saga will lead to the creation of a younger, more heroic Kang who will go on to assemble the team? It seems possible.

Kang's heroic younger self was also the focal point of the 2021 Kang the Conqueror miniseries by Colin Kelly, Jackson Lanzig, and Carlos Magno. Rather than founding the Young Avengers, this version of Iron Lad used his technology to try to save the timeline (and his true love, Ravonna) from the depredations of his older selves. Timed to the release of Loki season 1, Kang the Conqueror is a good starting point for anyone looking to refresh themselves on Kang's complicated history.

Other things to know

One other Kang variant who seems poised to make a big impact on the MCU is Victor Timely. That's the bespectacled, besuited man whom Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and Mobius (Owen Wilson) glimpse in the final Quantumania post-credits scene . Introduced in Avengers Annual #21 by Mark Gruenwald and Herb Trimpe, Timely is a persona Kang took on when he traveled to the early 20th century and founded a town of the same name in Wisconsin, eventually becoming its mayor and using his advanced technology to further his own goals. Other than that, he doesn't have a big comics footprint, though he looks to play a major role in Loki season 2. As a fun bit of meta trivia, Timely's name refers not just to Kang's time travel, but to the original name of Marvel Comics. The publisher was known as Timely Comics in the '40s when Captain America, Namor, and the original Human Torch were created.

It also seems likely at this point that the MCU's Kang storyline will be tied into the incursions storyline . Though mentioned briefly in Quantumania and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, incursions have not yet been explained in depth in the MCU. Suffice it to say that they represent the gradual destruction of the multiverse, as parallel realities start violently crashing into each other at the point of Earth. For full details on what they entail, check out Jonathan Hickman's Avengers/New Avengers saga, available on Marvel Unlimited and in a new line of "Complete Collection" volumes, and its climax in Secret Wars , which has already been announced as the follow-up movie to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty . Will the Kangs take the place of the Ivory Kings as the cause of incursions, or will one or more of them instead be the "Rabum Alal" figure who tries to preserve reality from the incursions? That remains to be seen.

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Related content:

• Those Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania post-credits scenes, explained
• Jonathan Majors on creating complex villains for Creed and Ant-Man
• Illuminati? Incursions? We answer your Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness questions

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20 Things You Need To Know About Kang The Conqueror

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Originally a Fantastic Four villain, Kang the Conqueror has gone on to not only be one of the Avengers ' main enemies but a frequent antagonist for the Marvel universe itself. Kang's deep comic book history makes him an iconic Marvel character, and he's come into conflict with a multitude of heroes since his 1963 debut.

RELATED: 7 Ways Quantumania Sets Up Phase 5 Of The MCU

Although Marvel's Kang the Conqueror is a frequently appearing villain, it wasn't until the MCU's Multiverse Saga that the character made an official appearance. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe going in a new direction following Avengers: Endgame, it's a good time to explore Kang the Conqueror's powers and his motivations.

Updated on March 7, 2023 by Kennedy King: Thanks to the release of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's most recent hit, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, there is more information available regarding Kang the Conqueror than ever. The multiverse-traveling invader plays a pivotal role in the film, and since there are countless variants of him, it feels safe to say that he will continue to play a major role in the franchise.

20 Kang Is A Time Traveler From The 31th Century

Kang is best known as a brilliant genius from the future and Marvel's preeminent time traveler who has tasked himself with conquering all eras — though Marvel's heroic age has given him trouble over the years. Using the power of his time-ship, Kang can, and has, traveled to every century.

After the MCU films introduced time travel in Avengers: Endgame , it was the perfect time to bring in a character such as Kang. However, until the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , the specifics of his timeline were largely unknown. Thankfully, this film clarified the topic and informed audiences that Kang originated from an alternate version of the 31st century.

19 Kang Uses Advanced Weapons And Armies From The Future

As expected of someone with his time-traveling nature, Kang the Conqueror's powers and abilities are facilitated by a plethora of futuristic armor and weapons. Kang's battle armor gives him the strength and reflexes to go toe-to-toe with Marvel's heaviest hitters. One of the Conqueror's most notable weapons is his neutrino-ray, which might sound enormous but is the size of a handgun.

RELATED: 10 Most Mysterious Marvel Villains, Ranked

Kang also commands armies conglomerated from various timelines. He is especially fond of using robots — including his "Growing Man" androids — but as evidenced by allies like Darren Cross, there are many types of followers at his side.

18 A Future Version Of Kang The Conqueror Appears On Disney+

While fans were happy to see a more recognized version of Kang the Conqueror on the big screen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , they received a brief taste of a future version in the first season of Loki on Disney+. Lovecraft Country 's Jonathan Majors appeared as the ruler of the Time Variance Authority who existed at the end of time and became known as He Who Remains.

This version of the character teased Kang's origins as a conqueror, which only served to excite fans Kang's inevitable debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although He Who Remains won't appear in the MCU following his demise at the end of Loki 's first season, his legacy will continue through the variants of Kang the Conqueror that appear from here on out.

17 Kang's First Love Ravonna Sacrificed Herself For Him

Before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , Marvel fans often wondered if Kang the Conqueror was even human. Although the latest entry into the MCU confirms he is a man from the 31st century, his prior relationships still remain a mystery. In particular, it's notable that Ravonna — Kang's major love interest in many timelines — has yet to meet the variant who serves as Quantumania 's primary antagonist .

Given Ravonna Renslayer's actions during the Loki television series, it's entirely possible that she and Kang eventually join forces. She is currently searching for her own purpose in life, providing her the perfect justification for a realignment with Kang.

16 Kang Created A Group Of His Own Variants Called The Council Of Kangs

One variant of Kang the Conqueror is dangerous enough to threaten an entire timeline. A group of them would threaten the safety of the Multiverse itself. Unfortunately for the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is exactly what's hinted at during the post-credits scene of Quantumania .

Up until the death of He Who Remains, cross-contamination between timelines was kept to an absolute minimum. Now that the Time Variance Authority is in shambles, entities like the Council of Kangs are free to operate as they see fit.

15 Kang Is The Pharaoh Known As Rama-Tut

During Kang's travels across time and space, he becomes involved with a variety of different cultures and timelines. Although most of these variants remain a mystery in the MCU, the post-credits scene of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shows a few of them as part of the Council of Kangs.

RELATED: Marvel: 13 Times Kang The Conqueror Actually Won

One of these Kangs is an Egyptian Pharaoh known as Rama-Tut. In the Marvel comic books, Kang travels across the multiverse to Ancient Egypt, and upon his arrival, he used his advanced weapons and robots to take over. This might not be how Rama-Tut established power in the MCU, but given his appearance in Quantumania , his story can't be very different.

14 Kang And His Variants Create Countless Problems

Kang's travels through time are such a common occurrence that he has created an endless number of time-displaced duplicates. This leads to many complicated stories where alternate realities are created and the course of history is altered.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, several versions of Kang appear during Loki and Quantumania . Some of these variants combine to form the Council of Kangs, while others operate independently of one another . At this point, it's almost impossible to know who the original Kang is — or even if there truly is one.

13 Kang Was Inspired By Doctor Doom To Create His Own Armor As The Scarlet Centurion

Doctor Doom has a storied history with Kang the Conqueror. The first time the time-traveling villain met the armored ruler of Latveria was during his time as the Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Inspired by Doom's own armor and regal presence, Kang created a new costumed identity known as the Scarlet Centurion.

Kang used this new identity to manipulate events in his timeline as he attempted to conquer the modern era. While his time as the Scarlet Centurion is generally seen as a failure, a divergent version of the characte r became a successful conqueror in the future.

12 Kang Creates A Human Identity Named Victor Timely To Observe The Age Of Heroes

Among the slew of Kang variants spread throughout the Multiverse is Victor Timely. Victor hails from the 31st century like all Kangs, but after learning how to travel through time and space, he relocates to America in the 1900s. There, he takes up work as an actor.

RELATED: 10 Ways Victor Timely Could Change The MCU's Timeline

Victor Timely's role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains to be seen, but given his appearance in the post-credits scene of Quantumania , he will clearly be involved. His potential as a character is massive, and it could spell out serious trouble for the franchise's heroes moving forward.

11 Kang Created The Time-Warriors Known As The Anachronauts

Kang doesn't always rely on the armies he's amassed over the years from his various conquests or the time-displaced heroes and villains he occasionally gathers when fighting his battles. He once assembled a team of warriors known as the Anachronauts.

These powerful warriors — Deathhunt 9000, Apocryphus, Raa, Sir Raston, Ssith, Tyndar, and Wildrun — were all undefeated until they encountered Kang. In an effort to repurpose their powers, Kang brought them together as the Anachronauts to protect his homeworld of Chronopolis from any and all invaders or challengers to his throne.

10 One Variant Of Kang Eventually Becomes The Master Of Time Known As Immortus

In one of the infinite timelines of the Multiverse, Kang the Conqueror's powers continued to grow until he became the time lord known as Immortus. Tired of fighting and losing his loved ones in multiple timelines, Kang decided to give up his life in order to serve as part of the mysterious Council of Kangs.

At this point, it's unclear what the goal of the Council of Kangs truly is within the MCU. After the passing of He Who Remains, the group is freer than ever to conduct themselves as they see fit. With a monstrous figure like Immortus confirmed to be in their midst, they could pose an ever greater risk to the Sacred Timeline than Thanos himself.

9 Kang's Younger Self Became Iron Lad And Assembled The Young Avengers

Iron Lad was a fan-favorite member of the Young Avengers with a look reminiscent of Iron Man . As the person responsible for organizing the team of Avengers-related teen heroes, fans (and his teammates) were surprised to learn Iron Lad was actually a younger version of Kang the Conqueror.

RELATED: 10 Questions We Still Have After Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania

When Kang traveled back in time to convince his younger self to accept his destiny, his plan backfired. Iron Lad killed his future self instead and created a temporal paradox that was only resolved when he returned to the future to follow his destiny and become Kang the Conqueror.

8 Kang Raised Black Bolt's Son Ahura To Wipe Out Inhumans In The Past

The Inhuman king, Black Bolt , sent his son Ahura to the past with Kang in order to save him from the incursions that led to the modern Secret Wars event (an event confirmed to be in the works for the MCU). Kang agreed under the condition that he would get to keep Ahura; however, Kang manipulated Ahura and tricked him into wiping out the Inhumans in the past, leading him to take over the role of Kang as an adult.

The Inhumans were forced to kill the adult Ahura, but they were able to save their young son from the past as well. Already having deep ties to the Avengers and Fantastic Four, this more recent comic story gave Kang a strong tie to the Inhumans as well.

7 Kang Saved Rick Jones During The Destiny War

Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's Avengers Forever attempted to clean up some of the muddy waters of Marvel's timeline that had been created partly by Kang himself over the years — resulting in Immortus' attempt to kill classic Avengers ally Rick Jones.

Rick Jones was powered by the Destiny Force, which Immortus had traced to a dark future he hoped to avoid — though Kang the Conqueror arrived to protect Rick Jones. Rick pulled a team of Avengers from different eras of time to help him fight the Destiny War first alongside, and then against Kang the Conqueror and Immortus.

6 Kang Once Merged With Doctor Doom And Annihilus To Become Doom The Annihilating Conqueror

The younger Nathaniel Richards who helped form the Young Avengers as Iron Lad decided to speed up his own villainous timeline when he took on a new identity of Kid Immortus after he met and fell in love with Princess Ravonna and saved her from her own ill-fated timeline.

RELATED: Marvel: Every Version Of Kang The Conqueror, Ranked

Kid Immortus began working with a young version of Annihilus and Doctor Doom, ultimately resulting in their merger into a powerful being known as Doom The Annihilating Conqueror in an alternate timeline. However, two versions of the Fantastic Four were able to stop the merger from happening, and Kid Immortus never transformed.

5 Kang Completely Destroyed Washington D.C. To Prove His Strength During The Kang Dynasty

"The Kang Dynasty" by Kurt Busiek and a team of artists featured one of Marvel's greatest takeovers. Kang and his son Marcus (who had inherited Kang's former role as the Scarlet Centurion) successfully overthrew the world's governments and claimed control.

The long-running storyline featured several unforgettable moments, including the complete annihilation of Washington, D.C., and its entire population as a show of Kang's power . While the Avengers were ultimately able to stop Kang and restore order, the damage was irreversible.

4 Kang Raised The Apocalypse Twins & Tried To Eradicate Mutants

Uriel and Eimin were the Apocalypse Twins, whose birth and eventual rise to power as leaders of the mutant race would have threatened Kang's eventual rule in the future. Kang took preventative measures and kidnaped the twins as babies so he could raise them using his own brutal methods .

When The Apocalypse Twins were teenagers, they escaped from their adoptive father and actively worked against him to bring about their own rule. However, Kang's machinations were ultimately revealed as a plan to erase mutant-kind as an overall future threat, but he was stopped by the Uncanny Avengers.

3 Kang Uses Characters From Across Time To Fight His Battles As The Chronos Corps

Kang has borrowed Rick Jones' "Destiny War" maneuver a few times over the years, pulling Marvel heroes and villains from different points in time to fight for him in important battles. One such time occurred when Kang entered an unwinnable battle with Ultron in the Next Avengers future that ultimately broke time. To save the timeline, the Avengers had to go back and convince Ultron to lose.

When the Apocalypse Twins' plans resulted in the destruction of Earth and the creation of a new mutant planet, Kang assembled a team of characters from other times that included Stryfe, Earth-X's Venom, Dr. Doom 2099, Iron Man 2020, Magistrate Braddock, Days of Future Past 's Ahab, Abomination/Deathlok, and a young Thor to help him and the Uncanny Avengers reverse events.

2 Kang Wielded The Reality Stone As A Member Of The Infinity Watch During Infinity Wars

The Infinity Stones were once again gathered by a villain named Requiem who hoped to reduce the universe's population in half by merging characters together in a series of unforgettable Infinity Warps . Loki was one of the few characters left unaffected and was tasked with forming a new version of the Infinity Watch.

Loki split some of the merged characters to help him, which included a new version of Kang who was merged with Ms. Marvel and called Kamala Kang. They joined Hulk, Ant-Man, and Emma Frost as Loki's short-lived Infinity Watch, with Kang taking control of the Reality Stone for the final battle with the Soul Stone-dwelling Devondra.

1 Kang Could Be A Descendant Of Mister Fantastic Or Doctor Doom

What may in fact be the most interesting thing about Kang is his real name, Nathaniel Richards. Although never explicitly stated, it has been teased that Kang could be a possible descendant of Reed Richards — also known as Mister Fantastic. However, at one time, Kang actually thought Doctor Doom was his ancestor, but various writers have explored this point differently.

Some still believe this complicated and disputed theory to be true, continuing to make the mysteries of this character's ancestral origins fascinating. As a constant foe of the Fantastic Four, this possible connection makes the villain all the more intriguing.

NEXT: 9 Ways Quantumania Is The Best Ant-Man Movie

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Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Writer Says Endgame's Time Travel Affected Plans for Kang's Story

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The MCU has already seen a big time-travel storyline in Avengers: Endgame , but one of their biggest time-traveling villains is just getting started. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will deliver the first look at the real Kang the Conqueror . After the benign He Who Remains, this time, Kang is a dominant force and certainly ready to fight for what he wants. But as one of Marvel Comics’ time-traveling masters, the early introduction of using the Quantum Realm to flit through time ended up altering the plans for Kang in both his upcoming Ant-Man movie appearance and Avengers: The Kang Dynasty . Writer Jeff Loveness told SFX Magazine in an upcoming issue:

“I haven’t seen a time-travelling character done with such intricacy and exploration. I’m a little bummed because 'Endgame' did so much time travel, so you almost need to broaden him out a little bit too, maybe broaden out into the multiverse a little more, the dimensionality of the character, the limitless freedom he has while also being completely uprooted from his time and himself. Is it just going to all fall apart again because another version of him can destroy it as well? What’s the purpose of building Rome if you are going to burn it down the next day, because they want to have their own Rome? I certainly took a ton from the comics but the joy of these movies is you also get to put some of yourself into it, you get to put a completely new spin because if you just do a 100% comic book adaptation people know all the tricks and what to expect. You have to use that as a foundation and then throw a curveball. I’ve tried to lean into him being a more interesting character than people expect, hopefully.”

Related: Avengers: The Kang Dynasty Writer Says It Will 'Throw Phase 4's New Heroes Into the Fire'

More Variants of Kang Are Coming Before We Get to Avengers: Secret Wars

Variants have become an essential part of the MCU even before the opening up of the multiverse. Loki, in particular, began to explain the existence of variants who are out of their time and reality and what becomes of them. However, all that was before Loki’s finale saw timelines becoming fragile before Doctor Strange took his trip through the fractured multiverse and certainly before we learn exactly how powerful Kang is.

One of the biggest draws to the character of Kang for Jonathan Majors was that he would play many different versions of the character over his time in the MCU. Unlike Thanos, who was a singular enemy for the Avengers to deal with, Kang will be many, and that only means a lot of trouble heading to the MCU in the coming phases. Where and when new variants of Kang will turn up is unclear, but now the Marvel Cinematic Universe is on its way to the next big Avengers event movies, which means the action is only getting started.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania gets the multiverse ball rolling on Feb. 17.

• Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

Going Back in Time with Kang the Conqueror

Revisit the origin of the time-traveler as you read this week's 'moon knight annual' #1.

In one of the least likely (but most exciting) throwdowns across the mighty Marvel Universe this week, Marc Spector's alter-ego takes on Kang the Conqueror in MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1 !

In this ish, Cullenn Bunn and Ibrahim Moustafa bring the two seemingly incongruous characters together based on their shared ties to Ancient Egypt; Moon Knight has been tied to the god Khonshu since his early days and Kang was a pharaoh for a time!

Wait...what?

That's right: Kang the Conquerer may have made his presence first felt in 1964's AVENGERS #8 , but the character actually debuted the previous year in FANTASTIC FOUR #19 .

In that Stan Lee-Jack Kirby issue, Reed Richards had been doing some research on the history of Egypt and theorized that one of the pharaohs had discovered a cure for blindness. Thinking that it might help Alicia Masters, the team traveled to Doctor Doom 's then-abandoned castle and used his Time Platform to travel to the past!

Fantastic Four (1961) #19

• published Oct 11, 1963
• added to marvel unlimited Nov 14, 2007

There, during a time that history seemed to forget, they encountered a group of anachronistic assailants who immediately attacked the team. Subdued and taken to their leader's throne room, the team was shocked to be spoken to in English and even more surprised to find out that the pharaoh, Rama-Tut, was also a time-traveler!

Their captor went on to explain that he hailed from the year 3000, which had widely established peace and prosperity. Bored and hungry for adventure, he took inspiration from historical videos of the FF themselves and began exploring. In his quests, he found plans for a time-travel device in an ancient castle that he used to build his own Sphinx-like chronal conveyance.

Upon crash-landing in Ancient Egypt, the man was blinded, but fired blindly at the nearby witnesses. In awe of his power, they made him their leader and even returned his sight with radioactive herbs.

Using his Ultra-Diode Ray, Rama-Tut managed to sap the Fantastic Four of their strength and kept them captive. Thanks to an unexpected transformation from the Thing into his more human form, Ben escaped his shackles and tipped a few dominoes, leading to their escape.

In the ensuing chaos, Rama-Tut took off in a time escape pod and the First Family returned home, but the time machine would not allow the radioactive herbs to make the journey. A few issues later, in FANTASTIC FOUR #23 , Doctor Doom got launched into space—a plot point picked up in FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL (1963) #2 wherein Rama-Tut picked him up in his ship.

Fantastic Four (1961) #23

• published Feb 11, 1964
• George Roussos

Once aboard, the two villains began comparing notes on their recent troubles with the FF and realized that they might be the same person from different points on their timeline! Not wanting to damage their futures or pasts, Tut sent Doom back to Earth and then got out of there.

That seemed to be the end of Rama-Tut until AVENGERS #8, also by Kirby and Lee, which found Kang the Conquerer traveling to the present in a space ship, proving his technological superiority and demanding a meeting with the world's leaders.

When the Avengers showed up, he displayed his real power and then explained that he was Rama-Tut. After meeting with Doom he intended to go back to 3000...but wound up in 4000! Rama armored up and quickly became the leader of the constantly warring savages.

Bored, the man now known as Kang decided to go back in time and challenge himself and take over the 20th century. The Avengers refused to let that happen, but were almost instantly captured. Butthanks to the quick thinking of Wasp, Rick Jones, and the Teen Brigade—not to mention Kang's own arrogance—the heroes managed to get free and stop the would-be conquerer, forcing him to flee to another time.

Avengers (1963) #8

• published Sept 2, 1964

Since then, Kang has become a regular enemy of the Avengers, though his teen self also traveled back in time to become Iron Lad, a founding Young Avenger! Most often an antagonist, however, Kang continues to make trouble in this era and many others...just ask Moon Knight!

Read MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1 at your local comic shop right now!

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A Complete Timeline of All Kang the Conqueror’s Future and Past Selves

Superhero movie fans will see a lot more of Kang the Conqueror over the next few years, with the top-tier Marvel supervillain set to take the place of Thanos as the new main villain of a Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

While Kang is set to make his feature debut early in 2023 in Ant-Man and the Wasp in Quantumania , Marvel devotees have already met him in the closing chapter of the Disney Plus series Loki . Met him, or we should say, met one of him. There isn’t just one Kang, and the time-troubling multi-variant villain is set to leave heads scratched and heroes in grave peril in the MCU as he has done in the pages of Marvel Comics since he first met the Fantastic Four in 1963.

Kang hails from the 31st century, where he inherited an impressive intellect from ancestors Nathanial Richards (father of Mr. Fantastic) and possibly Victor von Doom (yet to debut in the MCU). Discovering Doom’s technology in the far future, Richards travels through time, establishing versions of himself that variously helped and sabotaged his intricately laid plans as divergent forms spread through the multiverse. 

Kang’s story is a warning about the dangers of time travel. The versions of Kang that have established themselves throughout human history have varied in name, villainy, and appetite for conquering. As hinted at in Loki , they are often not fans of each other, although they have been known to cooperate and pose a multi-Kang threat to the multiverse. 

We are yet to see how the MCU’s Kang has affected time and manifested himself throughout Marvel continuity. It’s quite probable that we’ve already seen his handiwork without realizing it. The twists and revelations are set to come thick and fast, but in the meantime, here’s what we know about his established comic personas, many of whom are likely to appear in the MCU during the saga’s fifth and sixth phases.

2960 B.C. — Rama Tut

The Fantastic Four first encountered Kang in this ancient disguise. Having traveled to Egypt aboard in his Sphinx-like timeship, Richards established himself as a Pharaoh, planning to install En Sabah Nur, who would soon become known and feared as the powerful mutant Apocalypse, as his successor. One giveaway to his future origins was the deadly Ultra-Diode ray gun he carried. Good thing the time-displaced Fantastic Four were there to stop his plan. As he hadn’t established his master persona as Kang at the time, the Fantastic Four played a crucial role in Richards assuming a more dangerous persona.

1900s — Victor Timely

Timely by name, timely by nature. A quiet vacation for a variant of Kang as he carved out a life as Mayor Victor Timely in a small Wisconsin town in 1901. During his stay, he helped Phineas Horton develop the ideas that would manifest as the android Human Torch during World War II. This may seem like a benevolent version of Kang, but he carried this persona through multiple generations, and the robotic seeds and technological clues he laid in the 20th century were later seized on by his alternative future self with dramatic effect.

Modern age — Scarlet Centurion

There have been several Scarlet Centurions, but the most notable was the persona Kang assumed when he traveled through the 20th century and finally met his predecessor and inspiration, Doctor Doom, whose impressive armor inspired Richards to take this persona. Things subsequently became complex for the Centurion. In mainstream continuity, this persona was a gateway to becoming the more familiar Kang, although his son Marcus took up the mantle, inevitably leading to a conflict between the two. In a parallel reality, a variant of the Scarlet Centurion who never abandoned his red persona managed to defeat the Avengers and take over Earth-712. 

Modern age — Kang the Conqueror (Kang Prime)

Shortly after meeting the Fantastic Four as Rama Tut, a more familiar version of Kang the Conqueror arrived in the 20th century to challenge the Avengers. This is the most familiar incarnation, rocking the purple and green futuristic battle armor with a fetching blue mask. Kang almost defeated the Avengers, setting a pattern of coming close but never quite beating his sworn enemies.

Modern Age — Keng

A little seen version of Kang who, despite wearing the familiar fall colors of his Prime counterpart, also possessed the ability to change size. The mutant superteam Excalibur briefly witnessed Keng fighting their alternatives from a parallel reality in Excalibur #49 .

Modern age — Iron Lad

Iron Lad was a tragic lesson in destiny. This young Kang variant stole his future other selves’ technology to build a suit and become a hero based on Iron Man. He intended to create his own Young Avengers and defeat his other self or selves to avoid becoming Kang. Fate had different plans, and Iron Lad was forced to ensure his destiny as Kang the Conqueror to save reality. 

Modern Age — Mr. Gryphon

A recent variant, Mr. Gryphon split from Kang and was trapped by a chrono-anomaly in the 21st century. Kang set about creating a dynasty, assuming the persona of a businessman and assembling supervillains to combat all opposition. In All-New, All-Different Avengers #6 , Thor used Mjolnir’s future and past powers to dispatch this short-lived variant into the timestream.

Modern Age — alternate reality amalgam Kangs

Kang isn’t just content with splitting himself into combative variants; he’s also found his powers and abilities merged with others over the years. Other forms of Kang include an amalgam with Kamala Khan called Kamala Kang, and the future state of Iron Lad called Doom the Annihilating Conqueror, where Kang merged with Doctor Doom and Annihilius.

Chronus Tut was a fusion of Kang and The Time Trapper that clearly held a flame for the good old days in Ancient Egypt. Then there was the hugely powerful Time-Eater who emerged when the Conqueror killed Galactus and absorbed the Power Cosmic.

30th century — Nathaniel Richards

This is where it all started, in Kang’s original time. From here, Kang employed what he thought was the technology of his distant ancestors to travel thousands of years into the past and rise to power as Rama Tut in Ancient Egypt. This choice would set him on a collision course with the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and set his destiny as Kang the Conqueror.

Distant future — Kang the Conqueror 

Fleeing the intervention of the Fantastic Four in Ancient Egypt, Richards attempted to return to his native time of the 31st century. Accidentally overshooting and arriving in the distant future, he quickly realized his advantage on a war-ravaged Earth where technology had been abandoned. Summing up his villainous cowardice, he became Kang the Conqueror against minimal resistance. Kang assumed control of the ruined world before leaving it to die to take his new thirst for power into the timeline. 

All of time — Council of Kangs

Kang’s time-crunching quest against reality created problems and opportunities. Every new Kang variant is a potential enemy or ally to Kang Prime. He’s used this to his or their advantage by bringing together a vast council of his alternate selves. It’s easy to see these as a cooperative form of the Kang variants He Who Remains warns Loki and Sylvie about during the eruption of the timelines in Loki . In the comics, The Council of Kangs led by Prime Kang was tricked into ridding the Multiverse of divergent Kangs by their peaceable future form Immortus so he could guarantee his existence as Kang’s final form.

Whatever you do, don’t confuse them with The Council of Cross-Time Kangs, who first appeared in Avengers #292. That collective of humans and aliens assumed the mantle of Kang the Conqueror after defeating Prime Kang across multiple realities. If you’re going to steal one persona, make it Kang’s.

Out of time — Immortus

This variant inspired the Kang we met in Loki and is reasoned to be the most powerful form of the Conqueror. Immortus was the destined final form of Kang and ruler of Limbo. Fate was changed when the powerful Time Keepers accidentally separated this form from the Kang timeline. Despite the ominous name, this future version of Kang appears to have lost most of his conquering ways and adopted a more peaceful existence, despite being the most potent and knowledgeable version. Of course, you can never really trust a Kang.

A younger equivalent who may or may not go by the name Kid Immortus has appeared in other timelines, too, also seeming to possess a far friendlier attitude than other variants.

End of time — He Who Remains

The multiverse arrived with a confusing bang in the season finale of Loki . Inspired by Immortus, the personable persona we saw in episode six “For All Time. Always” was looking for a way out of his loneliness at the Citadel at the End of Time. This variant stated the consequence of his death and an unmanaged timeline would be nothing less than a multiversal war conducted by his many other variants. Understandably, he’d already seen the MCU’s Phases Five and Six. 

• Earth-6311/Vehicles
• Active Vehicles
• Stan Lee/Creator
• Jack Kirby/Creator
• 1963 Vehicle Debuts
• Apocalypse's Bases
• Time Travel
• 2 Capabilities
• 4.1 References

Kang the Conqueror's time-ship is a non-aerodynamic, space-worthy vehicle, and is mostly a housing for the large energy-generating devices that power the time machine. The time machine itself is a device whose major timestream-bridging components are the size of a two-drawer file cabinet. It utilizes energy to generate a chronal-displacement internal field, enabling a being or object to break through the "reality walls" of the timestream into the trans-temporal realm of Limbo, from which all time eras and alternate worlds are accessible.

Kang's machine has the capacity to send him through time unencumbered by time-travel equipment save for a temporal beacon. It can also remotely snatch people or objects from other times and places. The entire time machine can also move itself, and Kang's space-worthy time-ship, through time with its pre-programmed control units aboard. The advantages of taking the apparatus with him are that he has immediate access to the machine, and he can safeguard against its unauthorized use.

Capabilities

• 34 appearance(s) of Time-Ship
• 2 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Time-Ship
• 4 minor appearance(s) of Time-Ship
• 2 mention(s) of Time-Ship
• 5 image(s) of Time-Ship

Links and References

• 1 Victor von Doom (Earth-616)
• 2 Mutant Power Level Classification
• 3 James Howlett (Earth-616)