The Marvel Cinematic Universe has just locked in its next major villain. According to Deadline, Jonathan Majors has landed a major role in Ant-Man 3. The actor is said to be playing the villain in the upcoming sequel. What’s more, it is expected that Majors will be portraying none other than Kang the Conqueror, a major force of evil from the pages of Marvel Comics.
For those who may be unfamiliar, Kang first appeared as Ramu-Tut in Fantastic Four #19 back in 1963. We later got to know him as Kang in The Avengers #8 the following year. The character was created by the legendary duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Here is a video from Marvel providing a breakdown of the villain.
Majors is having a meteoric rise, having starred in his breakout movie The Last Black Man in San Francisco in 2019. The actor has recently been starring on HBO’s hit series Lovecraft Country. Additionally, Majors starred in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, which was released over the summer and served as one of Chadwick Boseman’s final on-screen roles prior to his untimely passing.
Given Kang’s history in the Marvel universe, one might expect that Ant-Man 3 will be just the beginning. As has often been the case in the MCU, villains can be more than one-offs. Loki made his somewhat humble debut in the first Thor and went on to become arguably the greatest villain the universe has seen to date. Thanos also appeared in the post-credits scene in The Avengers before becoming the main villain in both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
The point is, even though Kang is making his debut in what would seem to be an unlikely place at first, this could be a long-term play for Marvel Studios. The report also notes that there could be a “twist” with the character. What that means is difficult to speculate on at this time, given what little information there is to go on.
Plot details for the sequel remain under wraps. Paul Rudd will be returning as Scott Long alongside Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp and Michael Douglas as Scott Lang. Peyton Reed is directing. Reed helmed both Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Jeff Loveness is writing the screenplay. There is no word yet on when production will begin.
Rudd had, at one point, written a version of the sequel himself. That version, it’s said, would have seen M.O.D.O.K. and the organization AIM as the main villains. Marvel and Disney, for whatever reasons, decided to go in another direction.
Ant-Man 3 does not yet have a release date.
So what do you think? Are you excited to see Kang the Conqueror in live-action? Is Majors that right man for the job? Join in on the conversation over on Facebook or Twitter!
