While Josh Brolin’s Thanos made quite a mark on the MCU, Marvel Studios has now made a promise that its next big bad, Kang the Conqueror, won’t be too similar to the Infinity Saga’s Mad Titan.
Stepping out from Thanos’ shadow is not an easy task. After all, not only did Brolin’s villain become an instant classic, but he also rivals the likes of Darth Vader when it comes to pop culture’s most known and revered big bad.
When asked how his Kang will compare to Thanos, Majors noted that he tries not to make comparisons between the characters. The actor elaborated further, noting how "it's a whole different world... [his] assignment is different, and the character of Kang is different.”
It seems that both Majors and Marvel Studios are on the same page, as an executive at the company has now made a promise to make Kang entirely unique.
A Promise for Kang the Conqueror
In an interview with Total Film, Marvel Studios Parliament member & VP of Production & Development Stephen Broussard made a substantial promise about Kang's future.
Broussard promised that the studio would make Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror "different" and "very fresh" when compared to Thanos while making sure he had an "ongoing presence" like the Mad Titan had throughout the Infinity Saga:
"[Kang] is very powerful, very formidable, very strong, and will have, obviously, an ongoing presence, à la Thanos in the stories, going forward in ways that are different from Thanos and feel very fresh to us,”
The executive also discussed how they wanted Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to be more than just a "palette cleanser:"
"Coming after the Avengers movies, phrases like ‘palate cleanser’ had been thrown around about the Ant-Man movies," producer Stephen Broussard tells Total Film in the new issue of the magazine... But this time, it’s different. "[We felt] if we’re getting a chance at part three, we want the film to be big and feel central to the future of the MCU."
How Do Thanos and Kang Differ?
Audiences have only seen Kang once thus far, but he already feels vastly different from Thanos.
For one, he’s just a man—one who has already been introduced to the world and will have multiple substantial appearances before becoming the main target for the Avengers. Fans will next see him in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where he is set to be the main antagonist.
Thanos wasn’t anything more than a brief tease until Avengers: Infinity War.
Audiences will also get to know several different Variants of Kang, which will lead to viewers constantly seeing the character in a new light. Whereas, for Thanos, it was basically the same character the whole time—which isn’t a bad thing, to be clear; it’s just different, which is what Marvel Studios desires.
So far, fans have not been let down by Jonathan Majors’ villain. Hopefully, that continues for the rest of his stay in the MCU.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania hits theaters on February 17, 2023.
