Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Kang the Conqueror

  • RUMOR: Marvel Studios “Likely Moving Away” from Original Kang Storyline

    RUMOR: Marvel Studios “Likely Moving Away” from Original Kang Storyline

    There’s been much debate online over the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Many have already called it the end of an era after their first film in a while had a lower opening than even their 2008 release, but that doesn’t mean the production company is just going to sit around. The biggest challenge was that Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror was going to be the main focus of the Multiverse Saga but as it turns out, they may be heading in a new direction.

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness is seemingly no longer involved with the first Avengers film, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. A podcast episode of The Ringer’s House of R features writer Joanna Robinson who made the recent MCU book exploring the inner makings that made the studio what it is today. In it, she seemingly hints that Marvel Studios might be moving away from its original plans.

    As this hasn’t been officially confirmed, it’s something we should take with a grain of salt but Loki definitely kept it open how they decide to move forward. They still have many options in how they tackle the entire storyline moving forward and there’s also a chance that they simply retitle the first Avengers film, or perhaps just jump straight into Secret Wars‘ storyline. They could turn whatever happened to the multiverse into a mystery film as these characters try to unravel what happened to their reality.

    Source: Spotify

  • Fantastic Four and Blade May not Appear in ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    Fantastic Four and Blade May not Appear in ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’

    With every Avengers movie, it becomes a big question of who we might see take on a major role in the project. Throughout the last three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was easy to follow the main cast that’ll appear in these films but as the franchise continues to grow, there are many more opportunities to see some new familiar faces.

    Many are excited about the prospects of their favorite characters having a major role in an Avengers film, especially with the more diverse offerings with Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Spider-Man, and many more. We also have the upcoming new additions of Blade and the long-awaited Fantastic Four, though it seems that they may not have a role in the next Avengers film, The Kang Dynasty.

    In an interview with Gizmodo, Jeff Loveness revealed that he’s hard at work on The Kang Dynasty and is seemingly actively trying not to have any of the other projects shape his work in some way. As such, he hints that he’ll “probably not even” include the Fantastic Four or Blade in the upcoming Avengers sequel.

    But much like when I took on this Ant-Man job, I can’t really focus on that outside stuff. I have just got to lay down the bones of a good story, hopefully, and find the characters that I want to tell [it]. And then it becomes a game of ping pong with the other people. Like whoever comes on and does Fantastic Four or Blade or—I’m probably not even using those characters, you know—but it all informs itself. And so, you just keep an ear open if [someone says], “Hey, if Blade wants to jump in, go for it, man.” But it’s up to me to focus on my movie and, you know, work with [Michael] Waldron a little bit on his thing to make sure it all kind of makes sense. But I think the second you start looking at the 25 other movies coming out, you get a little lost in the sauce.

    Jeff Loveness

    He does keep the door open and who knows if Marvel Studios might consider some rewrites from Avengers veterans to help find the balance between the various crossovers. Still, it’s great that Loveness stands by his approach to creating a singular story which he also highlighted for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While it didn’t get the reception as hoped, it still shows he just loves telling a good story.

    Source: Gizmodo

  • ‘Quantumania’ Writer’s Kang the Conqueror is Inspired by Napoleon

    ‘Quantumania’ Writer’s Kang the Conqueror is Inspired by Napoleon

    Jeff Loveness had the challenge of truly introducing audiences to the main big bad of Marvel Studios’ Multiverse Saga. While we did get a glimpse of what Jonathan Majors has to offer in the season finale of Loki, we’re only now truly entering the age of Kang. So, the writer had quite the unique challenge ahead of himself to not only avoid clichés but also humanize a character that is bigger than one timeline.

    In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Loveness revealed that he wanted to avoid repeating the time travel elements that were already explored in Avengers: Endgame by giving us a very different kind of villain. Instead of one just on the edge of success, we meet one that has lost everything he had.

    With Kang, the danger was falling into another derivative time-travel multiverse villain. Endgame just did a time-travel plot in their movie, and there’s been plenty of time-traveling multiverse guys. And so I thought it would be interesting to approach the character first before we get to the more grandiose sci-fi elements of him. Peyton and I stumbled across the idea of Napoleon in exile, where he’s cut off from most of his time powers. We catch him at the end of a story that we just don’t know about yet. Guys like Alexander the Great or Julius Caesar are defined just as much by their defeats as they are their victories, and so I thought it would be humanizing to show a Kang who’s just been defeated. He’s like a Julius Caesar who was just assassinated by fifty other Julius Caesars and sent away. Or he’s like Alexander who has just been turned back at India and has lost the worlds that he conquered.

    Jeff Loveness

    The comparison to Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great is also quite fitting given the version of the character we meet in this film. He’s lost everything and is dedicated to retrieving it at any cost possible. It definitely gives him an edge, as he tries to stay true to his iconic name and highlights just how dangerous he’ll truly be the moment we enter his cage.

    Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights was an example I tried to use. I wanted more of a tortured anti-hero. I was a big X-Men guy growing up, and there’s no fictional character I love more than Chris Claremont’s Magneto. He wrote that character for like 40 years and put him through so many seasons of his life. And so just to write this Kang the Conqueror as a lion during winter felt like a really interesting place to begin with him. We can get his ethos and his passion, and then, by the time we see him or another variant of him again, we’ll have more room to play with him because we’ll know his vibe.

    Jeff Loveness

    It’s definitely an interesting approach and also highlights just how varied these characters can be. With a multiversal storyline, Kang right is the most diverse version of the main villain we’ll get in the MCU moving forward, and it’ll be interesting to see what other versions we may see.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • ‘Quantumania’s Jeff Loveness On What Makes Kang Different From Thanos

    ‘Quantumania’s Jeff Loveness On What Makes Kang Different From Thanos

    No matter who was going to be the main antagonist moving forward, we all expected comparisons to the original Marvel Cinematic Universe big bad, Thanos. While only making a brief appearance throughout the first three phases, Josh Brolin left quite an impression once he made his true arrival in Avengers: Infinity War. Now, we may get to spend a lot more time with the Multiverse Saga’s antagonist, Kang the Conqueror.

    Jeff Loveness had the joy of writing the character in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where we meet a very different version of the character that just faced his biggest loss. He’s only one of many Variants that are eyeing a multiversal war at some point in the future. The writer of the Ant-Man threequel got a chance to highlight what makes Jonathan Majors‘ antagonist stand out from the previous big bad.

    And so that allowed us to really give Jonathan Majors an opportunity to show the sheer humanity of this character. It’s also the opposite of Thanos. Josh Brolin did a terrific job, obviously. So much has been said about Thanos, but he is a purple, CGI space alien. So it was thrilling to write for a human face and one as expressive as Jonathan Majors’. But there’s going to be plenty of sci-fi and conquering in these Avengers movies going forward, so my approach was to give people a taste of who this guy is.

    Jeff Loveness

    And what a taste he gave us. We not only had the “nice” version of Loki but also Quantumania‘s version that is hellbent on getting what he deserves. Loveness pulled from his comic knowledge to get a true feel for this character and compared him to Chris Claremont‘s iconic take of Magneto, as we see a character going through many events in his life instead of just what we are told.

    Well, I think you root for someone who knows defeat. Thanos says that he knows what it’s like to lose, but we never see him lose until the end of Endgame. All he does is toss away the people that he loves and beat Thor’s ass. But yes, it’s a risk, and we certainly took some heat for it. But I am willing to bet that we are going to root for a guy that we’ve seen stumble and fall, much like Chris Claremont’s Magneto from those X-Men comics. That guy loses a lot, and we see how much pain he’s been through. And so by the time he really unleashes that rage, we’re on his side and we kind of get it. So I think we’re allowed to have a villain that takes a few shots along the way as [Kang the Conqueror or his variants] make their rise.

    Jeff Loveness

    He also compares it to Loki’s journey, who would become one of the most popular antagonists/anti-heroes in the MCU. He wants to ensure that “his defeat was a way to showcase his humanity and his unending passion.” The most interesting quote is that “Kang is not a guy that you can beat once; he is an existential problem” and highlights just how dangerous he will be in the future.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • RUMOR: Jonathan Majors’ Kang May Return Sooner Than Later

    RUMOR: Jonathan Majors’ Kang May Return Sooner Than Later

    Jonathan Majors finally got to play Kang the Conqueror in the recently released Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. While we did get a brief glimpse of one of his Variants during the first season of Loki, the first season even ended with a glimpse at the big bad himself as the new leader of the Time Variance Authority. So, we all assumed he’d likely have a role in the second season, but it was never officially confirmed.

    With Quantumania‘s release and the much-discussed post-credit sequences, the Marvel rumor mill has once again picked up steam as Cosmic Circus has hinted that Kang will have a larger role in the upcoming second season. While he only made a brief appearance in last season’s finale, it seems we can expect him to appear in at least three episodes. If they are still sticking to their six-episode format for dramas, he’ll have a significant role in the series.

    They believe the reasoning is that we’ll see a few Kang variants in the season, as it’ll focus on Loki and Mobius seeking out the different versions and how they influenced the timeline. The Sacred Timeline is no longer and with the multiverse continuing to stretch out into infinity, who knows what they might find. It’s definitely sounding like Marvel is making good use of the concept and giving Jonathan Majors many chances to give us a unique take on this character every time we see him.

    Source: Cosmic Circus via The Direct

  • RUMOR: ‘Loki’ Season 2 May Introduce a New Inventor Variant of Kang

    RUMOR: ‘Loki’ Season 2 May Introduce a New Inventor Variant of Kang

    It looks like the number of times we’ll see Jonathan Majors‘ Kang is finally ramping up. After a brief tease in Loki‘s first season with He Who Remains, a new rumor is making the rounds that we’ll perhaps see another variation of the character appear in its upcoming second season. This would mark the third Variant we’ll meet as it’ll release after February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.

    According to insider Daniel Richtman, it seems that the upcoming second season of Loki will offer a new Variant that is “an inventor in the past.” It seems he buys things that’ll affect the future and it’s Loki’s job to stop him. Given we see a version of Kang the Conqueror in command of the Time Variance Authority, he might be using them to hunt down other versions of himself that are affecting the multiverse.

    Richtman also goes on to highlight that he’s unsure if this is Victor Timely, a version of Nathaniel Richards from the comics and also known as “Prime Kang” but that “it is likely him.” The character is known as the one who ends up forming the town of Timely which would eventually blossom into Chronopolis, which is theorized to be the city we visit in Quantumania.

    It’ll definitely be interesting to see how this develops, and if we might see even more versions of the character appear throughout the next few phases. Majors highlighted that the joy of Kang was that he can play different variations that allow him to explore different perspectives on the character. So, he’ll definitely jump at the opportunity to bring Victor Timely to life.

    Source: Patron via The Direct

  • ‘Quantumania’ Director Reveals Why Ant-Man and the Wasp are Facing Kang the Conqueror

    ‘Quantumania’ Director Reveals Why Ant-Man and the Wasp are Facing Kang the Conqueror

    When the announcement dropped that Jonathan Majors would play Kang the Conqueror in the Ant-Man and the Wasp sequel, many were a bit perplexed about why his first true arrival would be against that specific Marvel hero. It seemingly created the vision of an instant loss for the character, though the more we see of the project it seems like it won’t be as straightforward as one might expect. Still, the main antagonist of the Multiverse Saga as part of the third entry in the franchise the internet loves to call “filler” may have become one of the most important entries.

    Surprisingly, it seems that Quantumania‘s director Peyton Reed had the very same idea, as he had some joy in visiting this idea of the “weakest Avenger” taking on this villain that is more than just your typical villain but rather what he views as an “absolute force of nature.”

    That’s interesting to me: to take the tiniest, and in some people’s minds weakest Avenger, and put them up against this absolute force of nature.

    Peyton Reed

    With the reveal that the character is also trapped in the Quantum Realm, perhaps he could use Ant-Man’s unique ability to find a way to escape. It would definitely make him an antagonist but not the main threat to the character. It seems obvious that no one would take him on directly, but with the confirmation of MODOK as part of the film, we may see our favorite group of ant-themed heroes stuck between two sides vying to conquer the Quantum Realm.

    Source: Empire