The MCU's introduction to Kang has always faced an uphill battle, but it was the choice to have the character's fate mirror that of another character in another film that makes Kang's debut feel doomed before it even begins. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was the next installment of the following series Ant-Man and the Waspand it was the biggest adventure for the titular characters yet. In the end, the film fell flat with critics and barely broke even at the box office, essentially wasting the introduction of the MCU's next big villain.
It was once promised that Kang would be the MCU's next big bad, in the same vein as Thanos, but that's pretty much gone. In fact, before everything happened to Kang, his role in the MCU could have been doomed before it even began. The way the MCU tried to tell Kang's story didn't work out, and perhaps there wasn't enough for the character from the start.
Kang's Quantumania ending was very close to Ant-Man's fate in his previous MCU film
A variant of Kang was introduced in Loki season 1, but her role was extremely limited, and it wasn't until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania that Kang was officially positioned as the big bad of the Multiverse Saga making his big debut. Introducing Kang in an Ant-Man movie was already a questionable move by the MCU, but the character's fate at the end of the film very closely mirrored that of Ant-Man and the Wasp just five years earlier.
During the end credits of Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scott Lang is trapped in the Quantum Realm after Thanos' snap, with no way to get out without pure luck. Much like Scott's fate in that film, Kang's was quite similar. He was defeated by Ant-Man and an army of ants and his "death" was never explicitly stated. Instead, it makes sense that he would remain trapped inside the quantum realm, just as Scott was at the end of the previous film in the franchise.
The Ant-Man MCU series was perfectly set up to make Kang's fate not sit well
Before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania leaving, it was teased that something big was going to happen, likely the death of one of the characters that audiences had become attached to throughout the series. Ant-Man franchise. Of course, no major character deaths happenedand even Kang's "death" in the film is up for debate as to whether he actually died or is trapped forever in the quantum realm. With the stakes not as high as expected, the film flopped, especially when it came to Kang.
When the character's variants turn into canon fodder, there's no threat he can really pose.
Combine that with the way Kang was defeated, and the MCU's new big bad felt incredibly lackluster and all that hype and danger dissipated. If Kang could be taken down so easily by Ant-Man who, despite being quite useful in a fight, is one of the weakest Avengers, how could he face characters like Thor or Hulk? The idea of essentially an infinite number of Kangs being your advantage is interesting, but when the character's variants turn into canon fodder, there's no threat he can really pose.
Doctor Doom's MCU Introduction Could Avoid Kang's Ending Mirroring Ant-Man and the Wasp Too Closely
With the MCU ready to present Doctor Doom as a big bad, changing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty in Avengers: Judgment Dayit's more likely that Marvel Studios has no plans to reintroduce Kang into the narrative. By doing this, It's easy to say that Kang actually died at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. With the certainty that he died, it may help to distinguish where Scott Lang ended up at the end of Ant-Man and the Wasp.
It wouldn't make sense for the MCU to confirm that Kang survived the events of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania now that Doctor Doom is in play. Adding Robert Downey Jr. to the mix, since the character only appears, they're going all-in for him to be the big climactic villain at the end of the Multiverse Saga. If Kang is truly dead, the biggest loose thread left for the characters is The Council of Kangs, but it's more likely that Marvel will ignore that plot point entirely.
For a brief moment, the excitement for Kang was palpable and the Multiverse Saga was going to be special. Unfortunately, that didn't happen and eventually the MCU abandoned Kang completely. It's possible that Kang never worked out the way Marvel intended, but his fate in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, mirroring that of Scott Lang in Ant-Man and the Waspit means it may have been doomed before it even started.
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February 14, 2025
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July 25, 2025
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July 24, 2026