Warning! Spoilers for Kang The Conqueror #3 by Marvel Comics below
In telling the previously untold origin story of Kang the Conqueror, Marvel Comics just revealed the supervillain was inspired by Doctor Doom and hoped to be like him one day. However, instead of taking after Victor Von Doom, Nathaniel Richards got Kang instead. In Kang the Conqueror #3, meeting his future self didn't change his mind about which villain Kang wanted to be.
In the current Kang the Conqueror series at Marvel Comics, readers were introduced to Nathaniel Richards from the 31st Century before he became Kang. Richards is the liberator of the library of Victor Von Doom and his knowledge of the secret history of the world at his fingertips. However, when Kang the Conqueror arrives in his timeline and offers him the chance to have more than the vast knowledge, Richards accepts. He gave up his role in Doctor Doom's library to seek something more significant. But, Richards quickly found out Kang wasn't a great mentor but jumpstarted his origin as the supervillain by agreeing to him by training throughout time.
In Kang the Conqueror #3 by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly, Carlos Magno, Espen Grundetjern, and VC's Joe Caramnga, Richards ends up going from the time of Rama-Tut and Apocalypse to nearly 27,000 years into the future after staying patiently inside his sarcophagus. He hears about the Fantastic Four battling the X-Men and sees the Avengers he previously studied in Doctor Doom's library. After witnessing his future self retreat to the timestream, Kang confronts Kang. After threatening to erase his future variant and time-travel to save Ravonna Renslayer, the pair are interrupted by Doom. Richards tells Doom he's the founder of his future library, but the villain tells him he wants to erase all Kangs at once. As the Kangs battle together and send Doom back to Latveria, Richards its he idolized Doom and inspired to be him - but instead, became Kang.
Richards clearly ired Doctor Doom, but after agreeing to Kang across time, he ended up becoming something else. While Richards believed he could become better than Doom, he ended up turning into a conqueror, who he didn't ire nearly as much.
Given the complicated future Richards eventually learned Kang was destined for, he chose to forge his own path instead. Still, after studying Doctor Doom for so long, he clearly hoped to be a villain of the same stature as the iconic Marvel Comics bad guy. However, his origin is still being told across time, and it's possible Kang the Conqueror could become a villain who rivals Doctor Doom.
