Earlier this year, The Harder They Fall star Jonathan Majors appeared in the Loki Season 1 finale, a.k.a. “For All Time. Always” as He Who Remains, the creator of the Time Variance Authority. However, this was just an appetizer to the main course that will be his chief role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang the Conqueror, an alternate timeline variant of He Who Remains. We’ll meet Majors’ Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but it looks like we finally have our first look at the time-traveling supervillain with more than a year and a half to go until the movie’s release.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania crew member Ace Ruele recently shared a now-deleted picture on Twitter of himself wearing a t-shirt given to the Marvel movie’s stunt team. While the Ant-Man helmet being broken is what immediately catches the eye, look closely at the reflection on the right side (via Cosmic Marvel).
🚨 The ‘ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA’ stunt team got their merchPossible look at Kang The Conqueror 👀(via @AceRuele) pic.twitter.com/yPgxFd4UMfDecember 2, 2021
While it’s hard to make out specific features, that definitely looks like Jonathan Majors designed as a version of Kang the Conqueror who looks quite similar to his comic book counterpart, between the pinkish helmet and the dark blue-colored face. That’s not to say that we won’t see Kang looking normally at any point during Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but if this t-shirt accurately represents how Kang in his fully costumed glory will appear in the threequel, then Kang fans can take comfort knowing how far the movie’s crew went to accurately replicate the look he’s boasted on the printed page for decades.
Although Kang the Conqueror is one of the Avengers’ greatest enemies in the Marvel Comics universe, no specific details about Jonathan Majors’ version of the character have been revealed yet. All we know is that he’s been able to come into existence thanks to Sophia di Martino’s Sylvie killing He Who Remains in the final episode of Loki Season 1. When she did that, the singular timeline the TVA leader established collapsed, unleashing the multiverse onto the main MCU reality and allowing He Who Remains’ variants to come through.
In the final seconds of the Loki Season 1 finale, a statue of one of these variants was shown to have been erected inside the TVA headquarters where the ones of the Time-Keepers had previously been. It was soon confirmed that this is the same Kang the Conqueror who will cause trouble in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, though that still doesn’t clear up what his plans are. It also remains to be seen if we’ll meet the “main” Kang for the first time in Ant-Man 3 or if that will happen in Loki Season 2 if Marvel Studios is looking to squeeze in that next batch of episodes earlier in 2023.
Regardless, Kang the Conqueror is shaping up to be the most dangerous antagonist in the main Ant-Man film series yet, if not the entire MCU. As far as who’ll be joining Jonathan Majors in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer are all reprising their respective roles, and Freaky’s Kathryn Newton is taking over as Cassie Lang. Peyton Reed returned to direct the threequel and Rick and Morty’s Jeff Loveness wrote the script.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicked off principal photography back in July and wrapped up last month. The movie is slated for July 28, 2023, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for updates on its progress and news about other upcoming Marvel movies.
