- Calypso Crane
Is Kang a Threat to the MCU?
Writing a good villain is challenging, especially when that villain bounces between different movies and shows. Factor in the multiversal aspect to the character and Kang has a lot that makes him a challenge to bring to the screen properly. With season two of Loki showing us two Kangs and Ant-Man: Quantumania focusing primarily on one, we're starting to get a feel for this character and his many variants, but are they really all that intimidating?
He Who Remains
Kang's variants were held in check firmly thanks to the efforts of He Who Remains and his creation, the TVA. As He Who Remains explains extensively in the finales of both seasons of Loki, his variants could have destroyed everything if they were allowed to exist. This is the fundamental reason the TVA was created, to stop Kang variants, and the Sacred Timeline was his perfect timeline that would not result in any problematic Kang variants and would result in Loki and Sylvie being exactly who they are, seemingly in the hope that Loki in particular would take over at the end of time.
He Who Remains was undeniably a genius and more dedicated to his cause than can be easily comprehended, considering how he spent his exceptionally long life fulfilling the role he knew he needed to fill. Loki's fear of the man is shown throughout season two of Loki, as is Sylvie's through her constant attempts to kill his other variant, Victor Timely. He terrifies the two gods despite them being possibly the most confident people in the MCU, and honestly? They're right to be afraid.
On top of his terrifying genius, He Who Remains has also beaten every other Kang variant with the TVA as his weapon. None were allowed to exist anymore, and it's more than likely that the variants that did exist before the TVA are all dead, otherwise they would still be a threat. He Who Remains remains at the end of time, but he is also the only Kang variant who remains, and knowing his genius and the possibilities of so many variants, that is a prospect that could shake even the bravest of heroes to their core.
And yet, he lost. Despite all of this, his gambit failed and Loki found a way around him in the Loki season two finale. It took a long, long time, but he did. He Who Remains overextended himself in predicting Loki, and he was too confident in how necessary his Loom was if it meant destroying countless timelines. Unless he had some other way to avoid Sylvie killing him, the moniker of He Who Remains can be forever changed to simply He Who Remained, as the gate is now unlocked for more Kang variants than could be imagined.
Kang, the Conqueror
Sadly, as you may have gathered, our next Kang can't quite compare. At the time of writing, Kang the Conqueror is the only other villainous Kang we've seen for more than a few moments in a post-credits scene. He was an intimidating foe for the duration of Ant-Man: Quantumania, and in only thirty years or so, he, alone, conquered a fairly large area in the quantum realm. His history is more ambiguous, but it was nonetheless one that terrified Janet Van Dyne.
Kang the Conqueror was indeed a worthy challenge for one film, but just like He Who Remains, he lost, and admittedly he lost considerably easier and faster despite his reputation, though once again it was a thirty year effort, not just the 2 hours or so we saw on-screen. It is worth considering that other MCU villains have been beaten in far less time in a majority of cases. That does add some intimidation factor if you consider it, but it's hard to focus on that when on-screen, he lasted one movie and was in no small part beaten by getting run over by a pile of ants.
Quantumia did add the caveat that Kang the Conqueror was holding back other Kang variants from becoming a threat, but doesn't that just make it worse? It feels as if the most threatening Kang was killed by Sylvie and outsmarted by Loki, and that let the others free until they had to get past Kang the Conqueror, who was less powerful, so isn't it only logical that the other Kangs, even united, couldn't beat the second most powerful Kang?
This covers the two villainous Kang variants seen in the MCU thus far, but there's still one more variant with enough screen time to consider.
Victor Timely
This is the only surviving variant of Kang who has been seen for more than a post-credits scene, and he's not like the other Kangs. This variant seems to be a genuinely good person, if a little bit sneaky in terms of his business dealings, but that seems to be an issue with his surroundings more than a reflection of his morals. Though admittedly, it is still something of a reflection on those morals, perhaps hinting that when push comes to shove, he'll do what he needs to survive.
Victor Timely is also a man who never had the opportunity to become quite what the other variants did. We simply don't know his capabilities, and that makes him an interestingly different kind of Kang. It seems that many Kang variants are born sometime in the 3000s, but Victor Timely was born in the 1800s, and despite that, he was able to understand the TVA and its technology with only the help of the TVA handbook. He's clearly very intelligent just like He Who Remains proved to be, but he just never had the technology to explore who he would be with the power that knowledge could grant him.
I have a suspicion that Victor may be a crucial variant, either the only heroic Kang variant or the very worst of the worst. There's no doubting that he's different, but just whether that difference is a good thing or a bad one remains to be seen.
The Council of Kangs
So, that brings us to the real question: will the Council of Kangs be a true threat for the MCU multiverse? Well, it seems like they have a lot of work to do. They could be threatening as a group, but it seems impossible for anyone to make it to the point that He Who Remains was at in his first appearance. Having seen multiple Kang variants die already doesn't instill confidence in their abilities, but of course we still haven't seen the legion of Kangs that He Who Remains was afraid of.
While they may not be a threatening force right now, hopefully they can prove themselves in the coming years leading to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. At the very least it seems that if one Kang can wreak as much havoc as Kang the Conqueror or He Who Remains, then a large group of them should be formidable.
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