In Loki's season 1 finale, we were introduced to Jonathan Majors' He Who Remains. It quickly became apparent that he was a Kang Variant, with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania introducing us (all too briefly) to the Conqueror version of the villain.
It's obvious Kang is being lined up as the Multiverse Saga's big bad, though there are some questions about how that will work with Jonathan Majors' ongoing legal issues. A recast is possible as is a return should the actor clear his name, but it appears Marvel Studios didn't always plan on using this villain as the focal point of this Saga.
Speaking on The Ringer's The Big Picture podcast, author Joanna Robinson (MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios) shared some of what she's heard about how plans changed in the wake of Avengers: Endgame.
"I was told by someone who works for Marvel, it was not the plan to make Kang the center of everything until they saw the dailies from 'Quantumania' and after his performance in 'Loki,'" she explains, "which was so strong they were like, 'This is it. This is our way forward. We’ve lost our varsity hero team, but let’s set up around this guy Kang and this performer that so many people are reacting to.'"
As well as penning this book, Robinson previously wrote for Vanity Fair. She'd go on to make a case for why Marvel Studios might have made a mistake by putting all its eggs in one basket after creating an entire slate of projects around one actor and character.
That wouldn't usually be too much of a problem, of course, but it's somewhat backfired in this instance due to Majors going from Hollywood's biggest up-and-coming star to one of its most controversial.
On that note, Robinson says, "That has put them in the bind. We do not know what they are going to do. I’ve heard conflicting stories about they are going to replace him, they’re not even considering replacing him."
We're guessing it will boil down to what happens when Majors gets his day in court, though there have already been rumblings about Marvel Studios putting a plan in place to move on from his interpretation of Kang in Loki season 2. Perhaps it's there we'll meet whoever was originally going to be this Saga's main antagonist?