Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has finally arrived in theaters, and with it the Marvel Cinematic Universe now enters Phase 5. The looming threat of the entire Multiverse Saga rests squarely on the shoulders of Kang the Conqueror. While we’ve already seen one variant of Kang in He Who Remains from the Loki Disney Plus series, the Kang in Quantumania is the first true threat to the multiverse. If you wish to avoid spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, stop reading now.
***SPOILER WARNING AHEAD***
Near the end of Quantumania, Wasp is able to knock Kang (who we’ll dub, “Kang Prime”) into his Multiversal Engine Core, causing a malfunction that sucks Kang Prime into the device. A few moments later, Scott Lang is enjoying life as he suddenly ponders if Kang is actually dead, and what his ominous warnings of the other Kang variants truly meant. This is not only the first clue that Kang will return, but a virtual premonition of the coming threat.
Let’s jump straight to the question everyone is asking, is Kang actually dead? While we can’t definitively say one way or the other, we do have some theories, both of which result in Kang returning down the road.
The Beyonder
The Beyonder is closely tied to Secret Wars in Marvel comics. He is an extremely powerful being that exists beyond time and the multiverse. While his role varies depending on which Secret Wars run you read, he essentially has the ability to destroy the multiverse, and at one point creates Battleworld. For those unfamiliar, Battleworld is the end result of a number of incursions that destroy most of the multiverse, resulting in the last remaining universes being merged together into a single planet.
A short time ago there was a rumor that The Beyonder would be involved in Avengers: Secret Wars, but that it would only be a loose adaptation of the comic character. In the MCU, the all-powerful Beyonder would actually be a variant of Kang the Conqueror. While many questioned how Marvel would make such a dramatic change work, the end of Quantumania has given us that answer.
Kang’s Multiversal Engine Core gave him the ability to travel to any place in time, and anywhere in the multiverse. After being sucked into the device, it’s conceivable that the power of the Multiversal Engine Core has been fused with Kang to create the ultimate being; a being around the same power level as The Beyonder.
At one point during Quantumania, Kang mentioned how much the Council of Kangs took from him by sabotaging his ship and stranding him in the Quantum Realm. Imagine what an all-powerful being would do with a vendetta like that on his mind. Now, factor in Kang’s desire to get back at the Ant family for preventing him from leaving the Quantum Realm multiple times, and eventually knocking him into the Multiversal Engine Core.
We also know the Council of Kangs has plans to eliminate the Avengers, which will almost certainly happen on Earth-616. That is likely the main premise of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. We also know that the Avengers in multiple universes lost to a single Kang, so imagine how much difficulty they’ll have with the entire Council of Kangs.
Immortus made it very clear that Kang Prime was a problem, which is why he was locked away in the Quantum Realm. So it stands to reason it will take Kang Prime returning to stop the Council of Kangs, only this time he may have the powers of The Beyonder, destroying not only the Council, but the multiverse as a whole, including Earth-616 where the Ant family resides. Take that one step further and the new Beyonder Kang may even create Battleworld.
Victor Timely
Of course we also have the introduction of Victor Timely in the final post-credits scene of Quantumania. In the comics, Timely is a divergent of Kang. That means he’s basically a copy of Kang that was created when Kang went to the past and created a divergent timeline. While the TVA was keeping such timelines in check, the events of Loki season one have put an end to that, which means there could be an infinite number of divergent Kangs running around the multiverse (i.e. the Council of Kangs).
If we assume Timely could be a copy of Kang Prime, it’s certainly possible he eventually becomes Kang Prime. In the comics he sticks around long enough to make a mess of modern day Earth-616, despite arriving there in the early 1900s. Given how Victor Timely is introduced in Quantumania, it seems likely he will factor into Loki season two, and if you recall, there’s a statue of Kang the Conqueror in Loki’s new timeline at the end of the first season. That Kang and Victor Timely could potentially be the same person.
As you can see, there are a number of ways Kang Prime can return to the MCU. At the very least, we know that Kang did not view time in a linear fashion. To him, time was a circle, and he’d already seen how it ends. He knows he wins. The question is not if he will return, but how, and what form will he take.
So how do you think Kang Prime will return to the MCU? Is Victor Timely a clone of this Kang, or could a super powerful Beyonder Kang be coming? Let us know what you think in the comments or on Twitter @ThatHashTagShow.
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