The answer to this question is enough to give us a little headache, because Kang has presented many faces over time and has one of the most convoluted origins in all of comics.
In fact, its main characteristic is that it constantly travels through time and dimensions, leaving temporarily displaced replicas and having descendants and ascendants of all kinds.
Despite that, Kang the Conqueror is Nathaniel Richards, a character from the future, the 30th century specifically, which belongs to Earth-6311, a utopian version of our world. It is said to be descendant of Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), although others claim that it would be from Doctor Doom.
Be that as it may, he perfects Doom’s technology to traverse time and dimensions, traveling to the ancient Egypt of Earth-616 (the “official” one of the Marvel heroes in the comics) and proclaiming himself the pharaoh Rama-Tut. He will be defeated on that occasion by the Fantastic 4.
On another trip to the 20th century, he forges armor based on Doctor Doom’s and calls himself the Scarlet Centurion.
In his stage as Kang, travels through time and dimensions, conquering what he can in his path, hence his nickname. From the Kosmos dimension, to his attempts to conquer Earth-616 from the heroes (for example, by traveling to the past before they appear and trying to change the future), Kang uses future technology and amassed armies for its invasions as it passes through different times and dimensions, as well as its ability to move at will through them.
We still find other versions of Kang in the comics, like a future one who calls herself Immortal and from which he will deny, separating from her by sheer force of will.
Trying to be the ultimate conqueror and lord of time, Kang’s stories are always full of dimensional travel, alternate incarnations of heroes and Kang himselfplus a lot of future technology that puts the heroes in a bind.
When did he first appear in the comics?
Kang the Conqueror was Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The first appearance of him will be in 1963 in Fantastic Four #19. There we see him in his primordial incarnation of Pharaoh Rama-Tut.
A year later, in the Avengers number 8 (September 1964) appears already as Kang and with his traditional appearance.
What are the powers of Kang the Conqueror
kang is a future human and his main abilities are obtained from the advanced and interdimensional technology that he finds and uses. Of course, as the human biology of the future has been improved, it ages very slowly.
Other than that, it’s a genius, a well-trained fighter and possesses superior willpower.
The main devices that make him a fearsome enemy are:
- Their combat armor. Which also allows him to increase his strength or travel through time.
- The Sphere of Light of the Centuries. That it can transport anyone through time and space, as well as travel faster than light or trap people inside it.
- crowd of weapons of all kinds. highlighting the growth pollenwhich he got after his conquest of the world of Kosmos and which is related to the Pym Particles that give Ant-Man his abilities.
Some of the most important facts of Kang the Conqueror
Kang, in addition to a complicated origin and multiple identities (thanks above all to the fact that he does not stop moving through time and conquering dimensions), make him an elusive and very powerful villain.
For this reason, he has had multiple adventures in which he has put many heroes in trouble, but He has mainly faced The Avengers and The Fantastic 4due to that peculiar relationship with its leader, Reed Richards.
And among those adventures, it is worth mentioning…
- Kang travels to the time of King Arthur, defeats him and provides advanced weapons to the Knights of the Round Table to be your personal army. His goal is to conquer the present by changing that past.
- Kang Transports Captain America, quicksilverScarlet Witch, and Hawkeye to the future in hopes of impressing (by defeating The Avengers) the princess of a rival kingdom with whom he has fallen in love, Ravonna Renslayer. This is not very fascinated and Kang decides to conquer the kingdom of his father, honoring his nickname.
- In number 143 of The Avengers, Steve Englehart, its screenwriter and creator of one of its best stories, Heavenly Madonna (where the enamored Kang shows that he only knows how to conquer in every way the beast), the character dies.
- As in Marvel that little detail does not matter, it will reappear, and not only, since it is revealed the “Council of Kangs”, a group composed of the many divergent Kangs created from the villain’s time travel.
- in which it is probably his best story Kang Dynasty, he attacks Earth from his sword-shaped space station, Damocles Base. He conquers the planet, rampages through Washington, DC, and traps the Avengers. It all plays out in a final fight between Captain America and Kang.
- In Avengers ForeverKang help a group of Avengers from all chronological times to fight Immortus, his future incarnation and the one he reneged on. Kang has his own reasons for doing it, but here we see a Kang with more nuances than usual, not only moved by his desire to conquer and his toxic crushes.
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Kang appears in the series’ season finale Loki. There he controls the Temporary Variation Authority.
The character is played by Jonathan Majorsprotagonist also of the series Lovecraft Country.
Prepared to be the villain of the next film of Ant-Man and the Waspin 2023, we will hopefully see a giant Kang (a classic from the comics) against a Ant Man giant. However, for the moment, nothing is known about the plot or direction of the characterbeyond the episode of the Loki series in which it appears.
So we just have to wait, but it is possible that Kang is finally an attractive villain for Ant-Man and the Wasp, given its infinite possibilities. It would not hurt since, especially this superhero, has suffered one of the main evils of Marvel, cardboard bad guys who don’t matter.
