The MCU’s adaptation of Kang The Conqueror was first featured in the season finale of Loki, who was revealed to be the founder of the Time Variance Authority. The man behind the curtain, and the one who was responsible for the end as well as the beginning of the Multiverse. The consequences of the events of Loki were explored all throughout Phase 4 in Spider-Man: No Way Home, What If…?, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness and more.
In the season finale of Loki, He Who Remains explained the origin of the TVA, which was the aftermath of a Multiversal war between Kang variants. After the character’s death at the hands of Sylvie, the branches of the Sacred timeline expanded even further, unleashing infinite timelines, and with that, infinite Kangs.
We will see another Kang variant in Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, which releases in theaters in a week.
Kang The Conqueror VS He Who Remains
Speaking with Goggler at the Sydney Fan Event red carpet premiere, Kang actor Jonathan Majors described the difference between He Who Remains and Kang the Conqueror. He compared the two characters to “brothers” who were “separated at birth”, saying that “one was thrown into a classroom and the other was thrown into war”. He said:
“They’re very different but they come from the same source. They’re like brothers separated at birth. One was thrown into a classroom and the other was thrown into war.”
Jonathan Majors
Majors compared them to brothers who had been separated at birth, which is pretty much the case here. Both of them are essentially the same being, but He Who Remains has been alive for an eternity, running the TVA and keeping everything in order while Kang is the exact opposite, wrecking chaos everywhere.
In an interview with Total Film, Jonathan Majors talked about his role in Quantumania. He revealed that he “[doesn’t] even call” the character “Kang”, and “there are no similarities” between the two roles.
I’m so radical about my language around it because I say, He Who Remains is He Who Remains. I don’t even call him Kang. He may or may not be a Kang variant. I leave my mind open to think that Kang the Conqueror may be a He Who Remains variant. It has to be that lucid for me to keep it going. But, no, there are no similarities between the two roles. I did play Kang the Conqueror second… I didn’t even look at the He Who Remains template regarding Kang. On purpose.
Delving Into The Quantum Realm
Speaking with Marvel.com, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness talked about how the Quantum Realm was designed, and how the logic behind the realm works.
“We really wanted to build it from the ground up and we thought how do we make this different from just outer space, how do we make this different from underwater like Namor’s kingdom Talokan?” Loveness explains. “We came up with [the idea] that basically it’s like the basement of the Multiverse. It’s this connected limbo outside of space and time.”
Quantumania producer Stephen Broussard talked about the real-world aspects of the Quantum Realm, such as the society and lifeforms down there.
“At every angle we’ve asked ourselves what’s the Quantum Realm version of this? What’s the Quantum Realm version of aliens? What does technology look like down here? What does society look like down here, what does religion and politics?” This meant turning to production designer Will Htay to literally bring the Quantum Realm to life so viewers could see all these things and experience them right alongside the Ant-Fam.
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania releases in theaters on February 17, 2023.
