When Marvel Hired Writer Jeff Loveness (Rick and Morty, miracle worker) to write the third Ant-Man film in March 2020 – what a time! — Kevin Feige and co. had only a few briefs: The film had to be a big quantum realm adventure flick, and maybe Kang the Conqueror should be the villain. Loveness ran with it… and ran with it and ran with it, all the way past the credits of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania to a gig writing 2025 Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Kang (played by Jonathan Majors) wasn’t just a throwaway, referential revelation Loki Season 1 or a one-off villain that Scott Lang must fend off. This was Marvel’s new Big Bad, the “Multiverse Saga’s” Thanos, to be guarded by Loveness in a number of future episodes.
But what is the Kang story really around when it comes to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? A great villain not only terrorizes the heroes, but interrogates the world around them. And in the MCU, there’s even more weight on the shoulders of a guy like Kang – he can’t just carry one movie, he has to support a whole one saga
For Loveness, it was the opposite of what Thanos was bringing to the table and exactly what the MCU needed.
“Thanos is like a hammer, he’s single-minded, he’s on a mission — it’s pretty simple,” says Loveness. “I wanted to introduce Kang the Conqueror near the end of his story. There’s a story with this guy. I love Lord of the Rings or Star Wars because they put you in a mythology that is much older than the beginning of history. They name Morgoth, but they fight Morgoth’s intern for the whole trilogy! Darth Vader – I’m guessing he has a history with that old guy?
Loveness says a specific line into it quantum puts the character in a nutshell: “If you can see time the way I can, you can’t close your eyes.” He sees Kang as someone burdened with his crusade and “a very non-linear guy” at that. The idea of leaping through time and space led Loveness and the Marvel team into a moment of defeat rather than the start of a killing spree that would allow the writer to associate Kang with someone like Napoleon Bonaparte.
“I think more of his defeat at Waterloo, or his exile, or failure in Russia, than of his campaigns throughout Italy. I’m thinking about what happens in defeat and how to humanize that character and give him a revenge arc.” Unlike Thanos, Kang doesn’t want to balance the universe—he wants to flatten it to make room for something that is fully known.
“He’s the great Gatsby of the multiverse,” says Loveness with a chuckle, “and I’ll leave it at that.”
Loveness says the original screenplay for quantum had more backstory for Kang, but like all films that find their form over the course of development, certain beats and revelations have been polished off. Much of it will find its way Avengers: The Kang DynastyBut quantum leaves fans teasing the many Kangs featured in a post-credits scene – and what they ultimately mean for the new film’s Kang.
“I just love the build of: He’s not a liar,” Loveness points out. “If you go back and watch the movie and listen to what he says, we’re in big trouble because he was the only thing that could stop these guys.”
That leaves the Avengers with a massive problem going forward in terms of all the kangs they’ll have to face. Loveness couldn’t be more excited.
“I wish Hawkeye the best of luck. I’m sure Daredevil and Moon Knight will be Great against these guys.”