MCU Author Says Marvel is Getting Rid of Kang

Movies

Those reports of Marvel preparing to ditch Kang the Conqueror may not have been premature. In the most recent episode of the House of R podcast (via Dexerto), Joanna Robinson, co-author of the book MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, talked about Jeff Loveness, the writer of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania who, at one point, was also set to pen the script for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Robinson says she had it “confirmed” that Loveness was “no longer working for Marvel,” and when she asked why, she was told it was because “he was all wrapped up in this Kang storyline, and they are likely going to be moving away from that.” Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, has been seen in Quantumania and the Disney+ series Loki so far and was being trumpeted as the central villain of the new leg of the MCU, which they’ve been calling The Multiverse Saga.

This is a big deal because Joanna Robinson is not some random anonymous scooper; she had access to Marvel Studios while writing her book, and it makes sense that she’d still have those contacts. If it’s true – and at this point, I think it is – this is the best bet for Marvel as far as the villain goes. They blew it with Kang; two of the three main variants were silly and not for one second imposing, and Ant-Man killed the third one. There’s no way anyone can take him seriously as a threat anymore, certainly against an entire team of Avengers. This notion of a different variant arising every time one is killed does nothing but diminish Kang, and he’ll never feel like the ultimate evil Thanos did. Funnily, Marvel’s screw-ups are the most interesting things about their films now, and I’m curious to see how they write out Kang after building him up. It feels like they need to wrap up the storyline somehow; maybe an action scene that takes place in that Kang stadium where they’re all wiped out. In fact, having the new villain take out all the Kang variants would be a good way to introduce him, or at least establish his power. This would be a good pre-title sequence for the next Avengers movie, sort of like how they introduced Thanos by, among other things, having him kill the villain of The Avengers like he was wiping up spilled milk. So, who will the new bad guy be? The Variety article from a couple of weeks ago said they’re considering Doctor Doom; he’s the next logical step, but they’ve lost so much time with their Kang misfire, and I don’t want to see Doom rushed. I’m not against it, but they have to do it right, and that means making Fantastic Four an incredible movie that introduces Doom to the MCU. They’ve got a lot of work to do, not just to establish Doom but to win back the audience’s trust; I’m rooting for them, mostly because I want to love these movies, but as far as faith goes, I’m tapped till I see something special.