The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a rough time recently. Their new big bad, Kang the Conqueror, has been axed, most of their projects have been financial failures, and excitement is at an all-time low.
Keven Feige has recently released a statement claiming that Marvel had always planned to scrap Kang due to him “not being big enough” and replace him with a larger villain (a tough task consider Kang threatens THE ENTIRE MULTIVERSE). While this statement has been met with accusations of lies, I actually do believe him.
But the problem is deeper than simply the character not being a big enough threat. It’s a complete failure in planning and execution from a franchise that lost it’s way after 2019.
The Origin of Kang in the MCU
I’m going to theorize what the original plans for Kang and the MCUs phases 5 and 6 were and how / why they was changed.
Kang the Conqueror is first introduced in Loki season 1 (2021) with the premise that he is preventing other Kangs from wreaking havoc across the multiverse. This version of Kang is then killed, implying that these other Kangs are now free. The timeline is iffy since season 2 (late 2023) shows that this was all part of a plan this Kang had not been killed, but, in the context of the broader MCU, this is where the other Kangs become free.
We then meet another variation of Kang in Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantomania (early 2023) where a Kang is trapped in the quantum realm. This Kang has been exiled here and plans to escape to take over the multiverse. The film ends with this Kang being sucked into a quantum engine and presumably killed or incapacitated.
The Original Plans and how they Fall Apart
Ant Man 3 went through rounds of reshoots which I theorize were to change Kangs arrival into the main universe.
There’s a lot of evidence to suggest that Kang was originally supposed to successfully escape the quantum world and this film being his entry point. The ending scene of Scott being trapped with Hope almost confirms this as they act as if they are trapped (a portal does open up a few seconds later, but they don’t acknowledge it, suggesting it was added in post).
So, Ant Man 3, at the start of phase 5, was supposed to be when Kang was free and able to start his quest to rule the multiverse. However, and this is really where the problem lies, this leaves Kang doing nothing for several years.
His next confirmed appearance would have been in Avengers: Kang Dynasty (2025), almost 2 years after Ant Man 3. If we look at the planned schedule for phases 5 and 6, there is no reasonable film or show where he could have been involved. All of these projects revolve around personal conflicts, with no possibility of Kang appearing or pulling strings being the scenes.
This would have made Kangs return almost utterly ridiculous. He’s shown in Ant Man 3 as ready to fight, got all of his gear, and is driven by revenge. What would he have been doing for the last 2 years?
The MCU Phases Problem
I believe a key issue with Kangs journey is the way Marvel has attempted to recreate their original MCU formula but change up parts to make it unique.
Phases 1-2 revolved around introducing characters to the audience and plots developing throughout films. For example, the infinity stones – the goal of Thanos – are introduced but not directly linked to him until later. There are many groups that want the stones, and it’s therefore easy to connect Thanos to it all by claiming these groups worked for him, or events unfolded in ways that later assisted his goals.
Phases 4-5 have followed a similar route however have instead focused on setting up personal plotlines and not necessarily plotlines of the broader world. We see this in Doctor Strange 2: Multiverse of Madness (2022), where Dr Strange travels the multiverse, but nothing of substance is established. This would have been a great opportunity to mention weird occurrences, but instead the film is entirely focused on the characters.
This would all be fine, if not a little disjointed since we have no idea when we’ll see characters such as Shang-Chi again (last seen in 2021), however Marvel broke the formula. They fully introduced Kang, his powers, and motivation, without building the story around him. This would again be fine and a nice remix of the formula, but the original plans saw Kang escape imprisonment and then do nothing for several years.
And there really was no way around this. Phase 5 introduces us to the Thunderbolts, the Skroll invasion, and several street level events. There is simply no place for Kang, a multiverse ending threat, within this structure.
Could a Rewrite have Saved Kangs Story?
Marvel attempted to make Thanos 2.0 however have missed a crucial first step.
In order to achieve his goal, Thanos needed to collect all 6 Infinity Stones. Some of these were hidden across the universe, some where unknown, and others were protected by powerful forces.
All Kang needs to do to achieve his goals is escape imprisonment. While this could be argued to be a difficult task, the only barriers to entry are some specific information (which someone with access to the multiverse would eventually be able to find), and maybe time. Both of these can be overcome, and Kang in Ant Man 3 was even sending signals out to other realms, suggesting that eventually someone would have come towards him.
So, to make Kang successful, we need to either add more barriers or show the journey of someone breaking down those barriers. I suggest a new character, maybe even a variant of Kang or a loyal follower, who is going around attempting to free Kang. This then allows this character to appear in several projects or even be pulling the strings to achieve his goal.
Kangs freedom will still be achieved in Ant Man 3, however we will push that to later down the timeline. Perhaps this character influences the government to start researching the quantum realm, or Ant Mans team are encouraged to go there for some reason. This would then lead into Avengers: Kang Dynasty, allowing for all characters to be set up in other films while also avoiding having Kang doing nothing for years.
