The origins of Kang the Conqueror's powers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Now that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has arrived in Italian cinemas, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe can finally meet Kang the Conqueror, the villain of the Multiverse Saga. After giving life to one of the variants of this complex character, Jonathan Majors returns as a new version of this sui generis villain, probably in his most terrible incarnation. As True Believers who are passionate about the Marvel Universe comics well know, Kang the Conqueror is one of the most compelling nemeses of Marvel's heroes, endowed with incredible powers, which hopefully we will soon be able to see also in the cinematic version of him. A hope that seeing the first chapter of Phase Five of Marvel's heroic fresco lets us foresee that we will have the opportunity to see the powers of Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Since the Avengers defeated Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, during Phase Four, a tangible villain was not presented with which the various Marvel heroes could confront, an absence that also resulted in the lack of an unifying element such as the Mad Titan had been. The threat presented by Kang should fill this gap, a function that is already highlighted with particular attention in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The presence of Kang the Conqueror's powers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be central to the definition of this character, but the real strength of the character played by Majors lies not only in a visual display of strength, but in a precise construction of his dangerousness through careful work of emotional enhancement.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shows what are the origins of Kang the Conqueror's powers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Kang the Conqueror: how to create a new villain The powers of Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Different Kangs, different powers?Kang the Conqueror: how to create a new villain
Thinking back to what we saw in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda's devastating power is defined in a scene which, while enhancing her power, reveals a crack in the narration of the movie: the clash with the Illuminati. To give a measure of the Scarlet Witch's strength, the viewer is first explained with some insistence how this small circle of super-beings are the most powerful in their reality, thus creating a game of balances through which, thanks to the speed with which Wanda frees herself of them, the incredible power of the witch played by Elizabeth Olsen is transmitted.If on the one hand this cunning was played for Wanda, for Thanos we never dwelt too much on his powers or his origins, assuming that the spectators perceived his lethality by relating him to his ultimate goal (to exterminate half of the galaxy ) and through the fear aroused in the heroes themselves. Repeating such an expedient would have been a mistake by Marvel Studios, which is why it was rightly chosen to follow a new path: to give the villain its own origin story as well.
A first hint in this sense was given from the One Who Remains in the Loki ending, but it is in the third Ant-Man film that, through the memory of Janet van Dyne, we have the opportunity to discover the truth about the origins and powers of Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like his other versions, this Kang is also a 31st century man who, having come into possession of a technology that allows him to travel through time, decides to impose his own dominion over time and the multiverse, in his idea as a form of preservation of a status quo that risks being broken by all its variants bent on accomplishing the same plan.
Contrary to other supervillains, Kang is not an alien or a being endowed with extraordinary powers, but is part of a group of characters who rise to the role of prominent character in the House of Ideas thanks to their intellect. An exclusive club to which personalities such as Tony Stark and Riri Williams belong, but also figures who, in addition to a superfine intelligence, show off particular powers, such as Reed Richards (you know why he is nicknamed Gommolo, right?) or Viktor Von Doom (as well as genius also magician, lethal combination). Kang is therefore a deeply human villain, not only in his weaknesses and fixations, but also in his origin as a villain.
The powers of Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
This is his trait therefore he also makes his powers the fruit of his condition. In Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania it is particularly clear how the powers of Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are of a technological nature, linked above all to his armor, not unlike what happens for Iron Man or Ironheart. The difference is that by possessing a technological result of his time travels, Kang has been able to build an armor capable of standing up to any technological invention available to Marvel's heroes, following the imprinting of the paper version of him. In the Marvel comics it was in fact explained that this armor of his was made of a synthetic alloy connected to his nervous system, in a way not so different from what Tony Stark did in Extremis, if you look closely.Contrary to the good Tony, however, Kang has at his disposal a series of weapons of a higher scale. Not only is the Conqueror a highly trained combatant, as a sore Scott Lang can attest to, but his armor lends extra protection and amplifies his strength. This is also joined by a rich range of weapons related to energy manipulation, which while recalling the technology of Iron Man's repulsor rays, have a decidedly superior power, capable, as seen in Quantumania, of disrupting living beings. A respectable armor, therefore, which also allows you to control magnetism, through which you can interact with objects, or to create levitating platforms with which to move.
Not directly linked to his armor is his ability to move across time and the multiverse, which instead depends on the use of his machine. Contrary to the comics where Kang uses an instrumentation similar to an armchair, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this prerogative is allowed by what appears to be a single-seater spaceship, seen precisely in Quantummania .
Different Kang, different powers ?
Contrary to what was seen in the comics, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe the powers of Kang the Conqueror could be sufficient not to require the use of other weapons. In famous comics such as Avengers Forever we had seen Kang resort to incredible weapons, which almost made his armor superfluous. Considered the most distinctly human dimension seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania , the choice to make the armor the only source of powers for Kang could prove to be particularly interesting, amplifying that sense of disconcerting familiarity with the prerogatives of characters such as Iron Man or Black Panther.Not forgetting how the presence of powers linked exclusively to the armor could prove to be an intriguing interpretation when rethinking how the presence or absence of this device could characterize the numerous variations of Kang. In fact, we know that we will be able to see multiple versions of the character, and different Kang could mean different manifestations of powers, not necessarily linked to the presence of armor. A similar conception would make the potential clash between the different Kangs interesting, which we also know from the words of the One Who Remains to be inevitable.
