Four separate Marvelprojects tried to adapt a famous comic book villain, and all of them have failed to do him justice so far. Many live-action Marvel villains have become just as popular as the heroes, or even more. Antagonist portrayals such as Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, and Josh Brolin's Thanos have been on par with hero portrayals like Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. Recent MCU movies have presented many impressive villain performances, including Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch, Chukwudi Iwuji as the High Evolutionary, and Tenoch Huerta as Namor. 2x1y61

Kang the Conqueror's quick defeat in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania may be disappointing, but it suits the MCU villain quite well. After Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania seemingly killed off Kang the Conqueror and Marvel Studios formally fired Jonathan Majors, Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom replaced Kang as the Multiverse Saga's main villain. Just like the Avengers fought Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Earth's Mightiest Heroes will face Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Kang the Conqueror was poised to be the greatest threat yet seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and I'm shocked to discover these several details concerning his first movie in the franchise. While many of the strongest MCU villains have caused great trouble for Marvel's heroes, Kang's entrance felt more stunted. The franchise has since moved on without the actor for several reasons. However, looking at the statistics of Kang's first movie, it seems that the reason why his story was abandoned may be simpler than it seems.

Speaking out after his firing by Marvel Studios, Jonathan Majors opened up about his continued interest in reprising his role as Kang the Conquerer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Majors first played a variant of Kang, known as He Who Remains, in season one of Loki before appearing both as Kang and as his variants in Loki season two and Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania. The character was positioned as the next big bad of the MCU following Thanos.

According to a new MCU report, Avengers: Doomsday's pre-production costs have already tripled those of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and they're expected to keep rising. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been one of the biggest box office bombs in the MCU's history, partly because it only gathered $476 million worldwide, but also in part because Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's budget reached a staggering $388 million. Naturally, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are expected to have the biggest budget in the MCU's entire Multiverse Saga, but the actual numbers may still exceed expectations.

The MCU wanted Kang the Conqueror to be the next Thanos, but I'm still not convinced he killed Thor as he said he did. Originally, Marvel's Multiverse Saga was centered around Kang as its main villain. When it was first announced, Avengers: Doomsday was titled The Kang Dynasty, but several factors led to Marvel pivoting to Doctor Doom. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania underperformed with audiences, hinting that viewers weren't invested in Marvel's Kang storyline. Jonathan Majors' legal troubles also left the studio in a challenging position about what to do with the character.

Judy Greer's original idea for her MCU character's return in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would have made the polarizing Phase 5 movie so much better. Peyton Reed's third Ant-Man movie hit theaters in February 2023 and was immediately met with criticism, mostly because of its huge world-changing scale, which was far removed from the grounded and intimate nature of 2015's Ant-Man and 2018's Ant-Man and the Wasp. It's not just the audience who wanted something else from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, either, as an Ant-Man franchise actor has also revealed her original vision.

Before Marvel Studios fully phases out Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror after his death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the MCU needs to introduce another variant of the villain. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Loki season 1, and Loki season 2 set up Kang the Conqueror to be the main antagonist of the entire Multiverse Saga, with Prime Kang and the Council of Kangs threatening to destroy the Sacred Timeline. However, after Kang's apparent death in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the MCU's projects are taking a new direction, as Jonathan Majors' conviction and Marvel exit required the franchise to move away from the character.

The MCU's introduction to Kang always faced on uphill battle, but it was the choice to have the character's fate mirror that of another character in another film that makes Kang's debut feel doomed before it even began. Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania was the next installment of the series following Ant-Man and the Wasp, and was the biggest adventure for the titular characters yet. In the end, the film didn't land with critics and barely broke even at the box-office, and essentially wasting the introduction of the MCU's next big villain.

Three ways Marvel could write Kang out of the MCU! From Doctor Doom’s rise to a Fantastic Four showdown, here’s how it could happen!