We first met the Marvel Cinematic Universe's take on Kang the Conqueror in Loki, though it was in his He Who Remains form. In control of time itself at the end of reality, that Kang had created the Sacred Timeline in an effort to stop his Variants from embarking on another Multiversal war, making him the ultimate conqueror in some respects.
His death at Sylvie's hands led to the Multiverse being reborn, which means there are now countless Kang Variants looking to take control of every reality. We'll meet one of those - who we're assuming is the Kang the Conqueror - in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania next year, and director Peyton Reed has made it clear just how huge a threat this villain is.
"This is the biggest adventure that Ant-Man and Wasp have ever gone on," he said during this past weekend's CCXP event in Brazil. "We’re going to some strange places and we’re encountering an antagonist unlike anything they’ve ever experienced. And that includes Thanos."
That's a bold claim, especially when the Mad Titan wiped out half the universe with a simple snap of his fingers. The difference, however, is that Kang wants to control every single reality in existence, and has the power to do so.
That's why keeping this particular Variant trapped in the Quantum Realm is so important, and doing so is a mission Scott and Hope will embark on in their next team-up. Reed would go on to say that the Kang we meet in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania is "very different" when compared to He Who Remains.
"They're Variants, but they are extremely different people," the filmmaker teases. "Kang is someone who has dominion over time, but he conserves his energy. He’s a very, very scary character to deal with, as these two found out."
This movie is going to have big stakes for the wider MCU, especially amid reports that this Kang will be the one who takes centre stage in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania arrives in theaters on February 17, 2023.