‘Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania’: Kang is coming

With a total of 40 films and series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to date, fans are understandably exhausted by the on-screen exploits of their favourite comic book heroes but Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania looks set to reignite their passion. 

Opening in theatres around the world on 17 February, Quantumania marks the official start of Phase 5 of the MCU which will also introduce audiences to the franchise’s latest villain, Kang The Conquerer played by Lovecraft County star Jonathan Majors. 

Epic in scale and tone, Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania is a sci-fi adventure that is decidedly unique to the franchise. The film provides all the comedic relief and action that fans were looking for in recent Marvel projects along with some high stakes for the heroes that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats, right until the last post-credit scene fades to black. 

Who is Kang The Conquerer?

Introduced at the end of season one of the Disney+ series, Loki, Kang The Conquerer is known by many names, most popularly Nathaniel Richards and He Who Remains.

Nathaniel Richards’ origins are rooted in him being a time-obsessed scientist who went on to become a time-travelling entity and one of the most feared beings in the MCU existing in a place outside space and time. 

He is also a Nexus being like Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlett Witch, Elizabeth Olsen) and America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez). Not only do they have immense power, but Nexus beings can also travel through the multiverse without assistance. 

According to Comic Book Resources, a Nexus being is any person or thing with the power and capability to drastically affect the probability and the timeline. 

“They are rare, but a variant of them exists in every reality and serves as a temporal anchor point for that reality in the multiverse.”

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“When we last left Kang — a variant called He Who Remains — he’s passed, right? But in that final sequence of ‘Loki’, he talks about scientists and these other versions of Kang. 

“A version of him is the one we find in the Quantum Realm. He’s a scientist and a brilliant man who’s been banished to this place where he becomes Kang the Conqueror,” explained Majors.

Considering where Phase 5 will take the MCU in the lead-up to the Secret Invasion show launching later this year and the big film planned for 2025 titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, all of this is very important to keep in mind when watching the film. This will also inform where this phase of the MCU, also referred to as the multi-versal saga, will go. 

Exploring new worlds

Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania transports viewers into the ​​Quantum realm where Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) found herself languishing for decades and reveals all the secrets she thought she had left behind. 

In the film, which Majors says is ultimately about friendship, love, attachment and abandonment, superhero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and The Wasp assisted by Hope’s parents Janet and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas).

“The multiverse, the Quantum Realm, variants — we have evolved and grown the MCU to a place where it is epic. The stories have always been timeless, but now they’re actually timeless if that makes sense. The size of it and the epic nature of it, for me, is most exciting because there’s a challenge to take the mega and make it micro,” said Majors. 

Though the film provides stunning visuals as the family explores the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and taking in breath-taking landscapes in the imagined world, it is Majors that steals the show. 

As Kang, he portrays a convincingly menacing and motivated villain who leaves you feeling as though he is going to get exactly what he wants for the multiverse much to the detriment of the MCU’s beloved heroes.

Majors also redeems the MCU who have been delivering disappointing and overhyped threats in the form of the Celestials from The Eternals and Gorr The God Butcher in Thor: Love and Thunder. 

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If you, as a Marvel fan, enjoyed seeing villains like Ultron and Thanos, prepare to re-arrange your lifts of top Marvel villains of all time when Antman and The Wasp: Quantumania opens in theatres around the world on 17 February 2023. 

Considering the world-building and stunning visual effects used for the film, I would recommend watching Antman and The Wasp:Quantumania in IMAX theatres.

It is also worth noting that this film features two post-credit scenes so be sure to stay until the very end.