Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has a major hurdle to overcome in making Jonathan Majors's Kang the Conqueror a more intimidating villain than the Mad Titan, Thanos, but the latter may have left the perfect way for Kang to establish his superiority. As the main villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Infinity Saga, Thanos has set the mark for what all other antagonists in the franchise should be, especially after his battle with Earth's Mightiest Heroes in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Although the legacy that Josh Brolin's supervillain leaves may seem impossible to overcome, Kang can repurpose one of Thanos' most horrific deleted scenes to prove just how terrifying he can truly be as the main villain of the Multiverse Saga.
Kang the Conqueror is the MCU's next villain, set to make his debut this February in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The Multiversal villain is known for his vast array of variants from various different parallel universes, many of whom seek to wreak utter destruction through their rule. Kang is expected to appear in multiple films in Phases 5 and 6, leading up to the Multiverse Saga's epic two-part finale, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. While he is already displaying himself to be starkly different from Thanos, it remains to be seen whether Kang can truly sur the Marvel Cinematic Universe's first big bad.
Endgame Originally Included Thanos Throwing Captain America's Decapitated Head
In Endgame, Thanos proves to be a strong adversary even without the Infinity Stones, having nearly defeated the Avengers. In the film's final act, a variant of Thanos from a disrupted 2014 timeline travels to 2023 to challenge the Avengers once more after seeing footage of his death in 2018. While his arrival in the present day is certainly enough to intimidate the Avengers by itself, his reintroduction to Earth's Mightiest Heroes was originally a far more horrifying scene than what made the final cut. In fact, an early draft of this scene included Thanos throwing the decapitated head of Steve Rogers at the Avengers' feet.
The footage that made Thanos's Endgame attack possible also revealed that it was the Avengers who would eventually be his undoing, leading the Mad Titan to find and kill his universe's Avengers, evidently decapitating Captain America in the process. Screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeeley and directors Joe and Anthony Russo have all shared the details of this scene during a Comic Con (via IndieWire) shortly after the film's release, revealing that the moment was eventually cut when the third act was repurposed in the script. While Thanos's brutal scene didn't make the theatrical cut of Endgame, it was clearly an idea that the filmmakers held on to for some time.
How The Kang Dynasty Can Reuse Endgame's Dead Avengers Scene
The Kang Dynasty has an opportunity to reuse Endgame's cut scene and thereby make Kang even more brutal than Thanos. Because Kang is a villain so intimately connected to the Multiverse, he has had dealings with heroes from across many parallel universes and likely killed many Avengers in the process. In fact, one moment from the Quantumania SDCC trailer that has not yet been released publicly even showed Kang learning that Scott was an Avenger, leading him to ominously wonder aloud, "Have I killed you before?" Clearly, Kang has not only had dealings with other Avengers before, but he has also emerged victorious, slaughtering Earth's Mightiest Heroes on several occasions.
Because of Kang's brutal history, the fifth Avengers movie has the opportunity to make the Multiverse Saga's main villain an even greater threat than Thanos. Just as Thanos killed Loki in Infinity War's opening scene, Kang the Conqueror should begin his own film by brutally murdering countless Avengers from across the Multiverse in one horrific montage that delivers far worse shocks than even Thanos holding Cap's severed head would have. This would not only start The Kang Dynasty off with a bang but also establish its titular villain as a true threat to the Multiverse and a worthy foe for Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Avengers 5 Must Establish Kang As A Bigger Threat Than Thanos
After years of teasing Thanos' crusade, the MCU truly delivered on the Mad Titan's arc, making him an even tougher predecessor for Kang to live up to. However, with years of build-up contributing to the Conqueror's own battle with the Avengers, Kang could become a better villain than Thanos himself. This is absolutely necessary in order to keep the forward momentum of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which needs to prove that its story is far bigger than Thanos and can continue long after the Mad Titan's death. In order for this to happen, there must be casualties in the Avengers' battle with Kang, as devastating as such losses might be.
While Kang will certainly lay waste to certain Earth-616 Avengers during his final battle, killing off legions of otherworldly superheroes in the film's early minutes would only increase the threat that he poses to the Multiverse. Such a sequence would establish Kang as anything but weak, giving the Avengers a foe who is truly worthy of their fear, perhaps even more so than Thanos himself. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty certainly has an uphill climb in proving its main villain to be an even greater threat than Thanos himself, but Jonathan Majors's Kang the Conqueror is certainly up to the task of bringing the Avengers of every universe to their knees.
