The pandemic has really put quite the damper of the 2020 Marvel year, hasn’t it? Think about it, we were prime for sooooo much Marvel goodness this year. There was going to be Black Widow kicking off Phase Four and probably giving Nat the sendoff she deserves while introducing what is to come next for the MCU following Thanos and all things Infinity Stone related. Then we had Falcon and Winter Soldier, Wandavision, and the Eternals to round out the rest of the year. It was going to be awesome. I was beyond excited for Captain Falcon. I wanted to see Wanda rip up the multiverse like it was a piece of paper. I want to know who/what the hell the Eternals are. But 2020 proves to be the year where we can’t have nice things as everything Marvel has been put on indefinite hold as of right now. I mean, there’s a slim chance that Black Widow gets released in November but I’m starting to wonder if Disney goes the Mulan route with that one thus testing my fandom and my wallet.

On top of that, we lost Chadwick Boseman which is devastating on so many different levels. I’m still processing that one and really don’t know what to say about it. The loss is tremendous and hurts on so many different levels but it highlights no only the importance of Boseman/T’Challa but really emphasizes the point that Chadwick Boseman was as much a hero off the screen as he was on. 

2020 has not been kind to us Marvel fans so any sense of optimism or news is worthy of celebrating. To remind us that there is more coming and we just have to be patient. A word that really doesn’t come easy to us geeks. “You mean I have to wait longer for things? Bah!” 

Yet today we got some pretty exciting news. How exciting? Well, it might just touch on the next big bad of the MCU. How’s that for exciting? Yeah, I got your attention now. According to rumors/news,iIt looks like Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors has been cast for a major, pun intended, role in the upcoming Ant-Man 3. How major are we talking? How about Kang the Conqueror levels of major.

Now, I’m sure there are some of you out there who might currently be scratching their heads while wearing the ever famous and always hysterical “who farted” face. Who? Kang the Conqueror may not be as well known as Thanos or the Green Goblin or even Loki buuuuut Geeklings, this is a big deal! Kang is an immense force within the pages of Marvel Comics and could be established as one of the next big bads for the MCU going forward. Will he reach Thanos levels of big bad? I don’t know, as I think the MCU isn’t looking for an impending villain that haunts their heroes before interacting with them. I think they want to establish the force of the next villain and then let him go nuts over the course of a few films. I’m here for it. Even though I’m holding out for some Doctor Doom action, I think Kang is not only a great step for the MCU but the most logical.

Side Note- Kang was also one of my favorite action figures growing up. 

I’m not going to give you Kang’s Wikipedia entry but I’ll give you a bit of a rundown on who we’re dealing with here. One of the biggest aspects of Endgame is the fact that it has now opened up the concept of time travel within the MCU. This is exciting for a number of reasons mostly dealing with the introduction of new characters and themes (*cough* The Fantastic Four *cough*). And with any good time travel story or element, there has to be a good time travel villain. Someone who wants to manipulate the timeline for themselves. Think back to all your favorite time travel stories whether it be The Terminator, Back To the Future, LOST, or even Looper there has always been a force trying to push back on our hero’s ability to travel through time. Kang is no different. 

The long and the short on Kang is he once was a Pharaoh who is defeated by the Fantastic Four. This does not please Kang at all. Kang then spends the rest of his life trying to manipulate the timeline for his own benefit. This is really the paint by numbers description. There is a lot going on here and I encourage you to explore it yourselves. Kang wants to rule and it doesn’t matter the time period either. This is where the time travel comes in. Because of this, there are literally infinite versions of Kang… some of which even turn into heroes. Now with the Avengers kicking the door open for time travel to exist it was only a matter of time before Kang was introduced.

And what better character to introduce him than Ant-Man. While I greatly enjoy both Ant-Man films, I do feel that they suffer from not being a major part of the Infinity Saga. Scott Lang even makes a joke in Endgame that he had no idea any of this was happening. Introducing Kang through Ant-Man 3 gives that franchise a bit more importance for the future of the MCU. It’s not like these movies are known for their villains either. Plus, when you think about it, is there any other character in the MCU who could awaken the wrath of a time-traveling tyrant? Nope. Scott Lang is so loveable and sometimes clueless that I can see him creating Kang by complete accident. Which is fine by me. The Fantastic Four may not exist within the MCU yet but introducing Kang the Conquer all but guarantees their emergence.

As far as casting goes, I couldn’t be more excited to see Jonathan Majors get this role. While watching Lovecraft Country, I turned to my wife and said “this man needs to be in the MCU like yesterday” and here we are. Majors completely foots the bill for Kang here. He’s got the quiet sternness about him that demands your attention. You just look at this guy and you know he’s got it together which is scary when dealing with a villain. And while it hasn’t happened a great deal in Lovecraft, you just know that when this guy snaps it’s going to scare the bejesus out of you. You’re not going to like him when he’s angry and that makes it even more exciting to see him cast in this role. What more could you possibly want from a villain? How about muscles because Majors has those too. For days. It could just be me but it seems like with each episode of Lovecraft that goes by his shirts get tighter and tighter. At this pace I expect him to rip through his shirt by episode six. This is not a complaint either. Just an observation.

Aside from that Majors has the quiet makings of a star and putting him within the MCU as one of the next big villains is a huge step not only for him as an actor but for the entire MCU. We are now in the post-Thanos era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and we need new villains to catapult this universe forward. Kang is an excellent choice and Majors is a tremendous choice to play him. This is a villain that can stick around for a few movies and really help shape Phase Four of the MCU both literally and metaphorically. 

What do you think Geeklings? Are you excited for Kang the Conqueror to arrive in the MCU? Are you happy with the casting? Sound off in the comments below or if you’d like to talk more Kang, like the time he sent the Hulk to 1917 France for war purposes, then throw me a line over on Twitter @iamgeek32. While we may not have any movies or tv shows to watch just yet, this is the type of news that makes it exciting to be an MCU fan.