Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will open MCU Phase 5 next February, but the film will have much higher stakes than the previous installments in the franchise. Quantumania will be a massive prequel to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, as it’ll introduce a much scarier variant of Kang (Jonathan Majors) than the He Who Remains character in the Loki season 1 finale.
That much we already know from the first Quantumania trailer and all the plot leaks surrounding it. But some of the people involved in making the Ant-Man sequel have started teasing the importance of Quantumania when it comes to Kang. And they’re not mincing their words when describing Kang, the Avengers’ next Thanos-level foe.
Before we explain, you should know that Quantumania spoilers might follow.
Talking about Marvel’s plans for Deadpool 3, Kevin Feige dropped a big gem a few months ago, revealing a Marvel secret that’s been hiding in plain sight. “How do we elevate it in the way we’ve been able to with Civil War, and Infinity War, and Ragnarok?” Feige said of Deadpool 3. “It’s very fun to be in the world of the Ryan Reynolds show.”
The remark is essential as it shows Marvel has big plans for third installments in its franchises. The same can probably apply to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Get ready for Quantumania’s dangerous Kang
Speaking to Empire Online, Quantumania director Peyton Reed elaborated on the film’s importance in the grand scheme of things.
The sequel will have a “profound impact on the MCU,” he said. The movie will deliver the evil variant of Kang, “The Conqueror,” who will be a lot tougher and villainous than He Who Remains.
“Jeff Loveness, who wrote this movie, is writing The Kang Dynasty as well, so there’s been a lot of discussion about the impact that this appearance of Kang The Conqueror makes,” Reed said. “There are big things in store.”
The director further teased the differences between the Kang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and He Who Remains. “Kang The Conqueror in our movie is a very different character,” Reed said. “He’s someone who has dominion over time, and he’s a warrior and a strategist.”
Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is finally facing “an all-timer antagonist” after the villains he had to defeat in the previous movies. “That’s interesting to me: to take the tiniest, and in some people’s minds weakest, Avenger, and put them up against this absolute force of nature.”
Jonathan Majors teases all the different Kangs
Separately, Jonathan Majors talked about his MCU Kang role during the press tour for his newest movie, Devotion. Like any other MCU star, Majors will now forever have to expect such questions during interviews. At least until we’re done with The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, the Avengers movies that will conclude the Multiverse Saga.
Majors didn’t speak about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania specifically. But he tackled what it meant playing Kang. The Hollywood Reporter asked the actor whether Kang appealed to him because he wouldn’t have to play the same character each time. And whether that was the “ultimate selling point.”
“Yeah, absolutely. That’s what’s on the page. That’s what the IP says,” Majors replied.
“I was cool, very cool. Kang just lives in his own world in the MCU. No spoilers here, but there’s so many variants of him. And with the powers that are the MCU, that intelligentsia and that brain trust there, they’re just really working to use the IP to its best ability, and it’s extremely humbling that they picked me to step into that. So I’m honored to do it, and I’m always excited to see what we’re doing.”
“Kang is a career in itself,” Majors added. “It’s either the cake itself or the cherry on top, I don’t know. But to play multiple versions, it’s just beautiful. It’s a workshop every day.”
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