Thanos is history. So who will be the next Big Bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

It looks like it could be Kang the Conquerer, the time-traveling villain who has been a thorn in the side of Marvel Comics’ Avengers for decades. After Thanos, Kang is one of the very biggest Avengers villains — and the time-travel shenanigans featured in Avengers: Endgame would be the perfect impetus to introduce the character in MCU Phase Four. According to Deadline, that’s what’s going to happen.

They say Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors been hired to play “one of the lead roles” in Ant-Man 3Their sources claim “he is likely to play the super-villain Kang the Conqueror”:

Sources add that like with so many new characters in the MCU, there could be a twist with how the character is featured in future films, but as of now he is likely to be one of the main villains in the next installment in the franchise.

Kang has gone by many different identities in comics — even appearing as a hero named “Iron Lad,” at times. So if there really is a “twist” involved, it’s conceivable that Ant-Man 3 could introduce Majors as another character entirely, and then either reveal he’s secretly Kang in disguise in a post-credits scene or a later film entirely. You could certainly use Kang just once, but given his stature in Marvel lore, he seems much more likely to become a villain on par with Thanos.

Either way, that adds a major bit of intrigue to the next Ant-Man, a franchise that’s generally been treated as a series of comic sidebars to the main MCU. Introducing Thanos 2.0 would be a big-ticket item for that series.

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