Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania: With its new villain Kang, Marvel is finally filling the Thanos-sized hole | Opinion

The trouble with franchises is that you need to keep reinventing and keep upping your game to stay relevant. And on top of that, you have to do it in a way that it seems organic and not some ridiculous game of one-upmanship. So when you are the biggest movie franchise ever created, the challenges get exponentially harder. That is the problem Marvel Cinematic Universe faced after the Infinity Saga came to an end with Avengers: Endgame.

The franchise was always known for memorable villains from Hela to Killmonger and from Red Skull to Dormammu. But perhaps none had the kind of impact on the series that Thanos did. Josh Brolin’s mad Titan was the over-arching bad guy of the franchise for its first three phases, spread over a decade. The build up and execution was almost perfect and the resolution sweet, making Thanos not just the biggest threat MCU faced but also one of the largest figures the universe saw.

That is why finding the next big bad became a challenge. The franchise has had some good villains in Phase Four, most notably Namor and Scarlet Witch (though some might argue she was more grey tha black). But none of them have the stature of Thanos. The universe-ending stakes Thanos brought have been absent. To many, the fourth phase of MCU was the weakest. It may be accurate even if a bit unfair since this phase had the unenviable task of balancing a dozen films and shows and building up the next saga. But for me, the reason it feels like the weakest is because there is no one common threat tying all the ends, like Thanos had since his first appearance in a post-credit scene in The Avengers.

But come, February, that may change. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will kick of Phase Five of the MCU, and the world will finally see a new threat – Kang, the Conqueror. Like Thanos, we have seen Kang before in the MCU before his own movie. Jonathan Majors played a variant called He Who Remains in the season finale of Loki in 2021, building up towards Kang’s entry. But now, the stakes will be raised.

The sixth phase of MCU includes two Avengers films back-to-back and one of them is titled Kang Dynasty. It is quite clear who the central force of the franchise will be for the next few years. What makes Kang the perfect successor of Thanos is that he is also almost all-powerful and mysterious. Like Thanos, he is a God-like being who has the patience, calm, and composure to be a truly great threat. He does not rush into things like a Loki or does not resort to viciousness like Malekeith. He is cold and calculative. And most importantly, he is ambitious.

In the comics, Kang has been described as one of Marvel’s most powerful villains. His determination and ruthlessness make him different enough from Thanos that he will not look like the ‘next Thanos’. And yet, his power level makes him a multiverse-level threat, one that will require many heroes to come together. That magnitude is something MCU Phase Four lacked, and one that seems to be under repairs now.

 The Multiverse Saga, as it is being called, is officially underway. How Kang fares will depend on Majors’ portrayal and how Peyton Reed builds him up in Ant-Man 3. But one can trust Kevin Feige’s vision. Because building great villains is something his franchise excels at. Here’s looking forward to Kang!