AVENGERS: If Kang Is Doomed, These 6 Villains Could Be The Multiverse Saga's New Main Villain

All signs point to Marvel Studios moving on from Kang as the Multiverse Saga's big bad, so where does that leave the MCU? Here, we take a look at 6 exciting possibilities to take the Conqueror's place...

By JoshWilding - Nov 06, 2023 11:11 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers: Secret Wars

While we're no longer sure how accurate Variety's recent MCU "hit piece" was, the trade is far from the first to have reported on Marvel Studios' plans to move on from Kang the Conqueror.

Moviegoers haven't responded to the villain - particularly after Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania - and actor Jonathan Majors now finds himself facing serious domestic violence allegations in court. Even if he clears his name, the damage may have been done, and the MCU may be looking to move on from Kang and his many Variants.

Doctor Doom and The Beyonder are two names that have repeatedly come up, so we're not repeating those here. Instead, we're taking a look at six more Marvel villains we think have the potential to replace Kang as the lead villain in both upcoming Avengers movies.

Find out who we're making a case for by clicking on the "Next" button below...

6. Red Skull

Long before Thanos came along, the Red Skull got his hands on one of the Infinity Stones but found himself transported to parts unknown by the Tesseract. We've since learned that he was sent to Vormir and somehow forced into becoming a Stonekeeper' a wraith-like being who watched over the Soul Stone.

He's since been freed from his purgatory in at least two separate timelines (Thanos sacrificed Gamora in one, while Hawkeye was forced to say goodbye to Black Widow in the other, granting the survivors the powerful Infinity Stone). Now, there's nothing to stop the Red Skull from returning.

In the Old Man Logan storyline, the villain became President of the United States and ruled over a post-apocalyptic future...and he was just a man. Imbued with cosmic powers. the Red Skull could be a significant threat and, with that, the original Captain America can return to put down the foe that sent him into the ice once and for all.

The Red Skull would definitely need some backup - a whole cabal of sinister baddies from across the Multiverse perhaps - but there's potential here.

5. Magneto

Marvel Studios is expected to reboot the X-Men franchise post-Avengers: Secret Wars, and when they do, we're not expecting Magneto to be front and centre. The Master of Magnetism was a lead villain in every single X-Men movie made by 20th Century Fox so repeating that would be a major blunder.

Instead, we'd rather see him lead the team alongside Professor X, with the door open to him potentially breaking bad further down the line.

Back to the Multiverse Saga, though, and a Multiversal Magneto could quite easily steal the spotlight from Kang. We've consistently heard that Doctor Strange is the biggest threat to reality and his inability to stop the Scarlet Witch's rampage on Earth-838 may well be what leads to a vengeful Magneto heading to Earth-616.

By manipulating his emotionally traumatised daughter to rewrite reality, he can make short work of Kang and create a world ruled by mutants that serves as a perfect lead-in for the aforementioned reboot. Whether it's Ian McKellen, Michael Fassbender, or someone new, this would be awesome.

4. Iron Man

Rumours continue to swirl that Robert Downey Jr. has already agreed to return as Iron Man in Avengers: Secret Wars, so why not end this Saga by establishing the previous one's greatest hero as the Multiverse's greatest villain?

Whether it's a vengeful Iron Man from Earth-838 out to avenge his fallen Illuminati members or perhaps even a Tony Stark inspired by Ultimate Invasion, Marvel Studios has more than a few options. In the latter story, Tony has become Iron Lad and is on track to eventually transform into a new version of Kang; what a perfect way for the MCU to move on from Jonathan Majors, eh?

The most formidable Kang being an Iron Man Variant sounds like a blockbuster idea to us and what better way to convince Downey to return than by offering him the opportunity to put a completely different spin on a character he spent a decade playing?

Whether it's been planned from the start or is a last-minute change, this would make for one heckuva twist.

3. Annihilus

One small benefit of the Hollywood strikes is that Marvel Studios has been given the opportunity to reevaluate its plans. As of now, Fantastic Four is still heading our way before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, so why not use that reboot as a means of shaking things up?

We don't want to see it receive the Iron Man 2 treatment by becoming little more than an Avengers lead-in, but a few minor tweaks could be massively beneficial to the wider Multiverse Saga.

For example, if it's true that Marvel's First Family hails from the past or a different timeline, then there are ways for their arrival on Earth-616 to take Kang off the board (if it hasn't already happened). If, however, the Annihilation Wave is unleashed as a result of that, then a new epic threat to the MCU is there to use.

Like Red Skull, Annihilus would need to receive a major upgrade and likely a fair bit of backup to make the alien a threat not just to the cosmos, but the entire Multiverse. What if he becomes a parasite that's responsible for those incursions, devouring timeline after timeline?

2. Loki

If recent theories are correct, Loki will become the God of Stories in this week's finale. Time appears to be a circle in the MCU and, if so, it's possible the Asgardian created the TVA, similar to how OB based the TVA Handbook on Victor Timely's work (the Kang Variant later revealed his work was based on that Handbook).

If so, Kang presumably comes along at some point and wrestles the TVA away from Loki. History isn't always destined to repeat itself, though, and what's happened before can be changed (Loki may be the one who tasks the TVA with assembling a Multiversal army in Deadpool 3, for example).

He Who Remains, however, was resolute in his belief that he'd end up back in the Citadel at the End of Time so what if Loki breaks the circle by breaking bad?

Marvel Studios will have to find a clever way to make this work and they mustn't undo the character development we've seen in the trickster's TV series. Like Doom, though, Loki creating a new world for what he believes are the right reasons could send him down a slippery slope into evil again.

1. Thanos

Going back to Loki would mean The Avengers are once again pitted against the first villain they assembled against, but what about shifting the focus to the Infinity Saga's big bad instead?

Ultimately, a familiar villain makes more sense than a new one; Marvel Studios just needs to avoid repeating itself. Should they utilise the King Thanos Variant created for an upcoming theme park attraction, though, the Multiverse's Mightiest Heroes will have a suitably dangerous threat to assemble against.

He can essentially just take Kang's place as a time-travelling baddie who is now vastly more powerful than the one who wielded the Infinity Stones. Crucially, audiences will have a connection with him - unlike Kang - and know all too well what the character is capable of.

Think back to Avengers: Infinity War and what we saw from Thanos there and we're sure you'll agree this has the potential to work. A team of Multiversal Avengers fighting him is also more appealing than the prospect of them battling Kang!

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49 Comments

1 2

bobevanz - 11/6/2023, 11:12 AM

"6 reasons I shouldn't have a job here!"

Origame - 11/6/2023, 11:21 AM

@bobevanz - "6) I make pointless lists

5) I'm ridiculously biased despite mainly producing news

4) 50% of my news comes from an anonymous scooper who's claim to fame is loving toast

3) the other 50% of my content is comprised of concept art that isn't new or interesting

2) the only thing I hate more than my audience is proper grammar

1) I'm clearly a paid employee for disney"

AllsGood - 11/6/2023, 11:26 AM

@bobevanz - No one works at CBM all users like you. Nate B told us all that Many times. What stops you from posting your own Articles.

HashTagSwagg - 11/6/2023, 11:16 AM

Darkseid

Origame - 11/6/2023, 11:22 AM

@HashTagSwagg - no, you fool. Their main villain should be Mickey mouse!

The1st - 11/6/2023, 1:06 PM

@Origame - it should be someone they can actually defeat lol.

AnthonyVonGeek - 11/6/2023, 11:20 AM

Marble/Dikney is such a mess right now that they don’t even know what to do.

bkmeijer1 - 11/6/2023, 11:21 AM

I really like Red Skull and evil Iron Mam. However, the former doesn't really feel like an Avengers Saga level threat and I doubt they'd just bring RDJ back for the latter.

Think the most obvious one would be (God Emperor) Doom. Had big roles in both Secret Wars, and he can be set up with a few appearances. Thanos only appeared in two credit scenes and as a background character in one movie before IW as well, and that worked too.

AllsGood - 11/6/2023, 11:21 AM

Here is my pick to replace Kang the Conquered No One. Maestro who is also extremely intelligent.

ShimmyShimmyYA - 11/6/2023, 11:24 AM

Just recast this isn’t that hard

PatientXero - 11/6/2023, 11:27 AM

Have Tony be The Beyonder. He became part of the multiverse after wielding the stones. Blah blah something about a member of such a frail species using them did something weird.

bkmeijer1 - 11/6/2023, 11:36 AM

@PatientXero - I wouldn't be against that. So many angles they can take to make that work out.

But I also kinda wanna see the fallout of Earth-838, and having a Tony from that universe take revenge could be interesting as well. Maybe he become the Beyonder in that universe, since he had spare time after Ultron worked

KWilly - 11/6/2023, 11:35 AM

Still think the simplest and best option is just to recast Majors. Great actor, but he is not the only great actor out there who can play Kang.

Rearranging the whole Kang Dynasty storyline they were going for with the next Avengers, just cuz Majors trial dates are all over the place is a bit much.

That being said... Doom is great too.

SauronthePower - 11/6/2023, 12:20 PM

@KWilly - needs literal years to percolate

Majors or a recast

Make Kang nigh on indestructible as an ironic counterpoint to his three, ‘easy’ deaths, thus far

Indestructible Kang requires full-on multicersal teamup that dwarves portals scene

Truoptimusprime - 11/6/2023, 11:42 AM

I believe that they are positioning Loki to be the New Kang going forward. Loki being a Devil like character being able to control time it would be a very different Avengers movie it would mirror the very first avengers movie. Essentially the devil worst enemy is time!!!

AllsGood - 11/6/2023, 11:51 AM

@Truoptimusprime - Loki Season 2 viewership was way down lost 40% from Season 1.

Loki Season 2 Audience Rotten Tomatoes Score is also way down. I don't think Loki is a great choice due to all the lower numbers.

75%

AUDIENCE SCORE
1,000+ Ratings

SauronthePower - 11/6/2023, 12:16 PM

@AllsGood - and Season 2 has been THE BEST MCU TV we have gotten, thus far

But I agree in that regressing back to Loki as the overarching saga big bad is lazy, dumb, and creatively bankrupt

AllsGood - 11/6/2023, 12:29 PM

@SauronthePower - Loki Season 2 is my least favorite MCU TV show.

SauronthePower - 11/6/2023, 1:45 PM

@AllsGood - wow man

I think that Moonknight, Secret Invasion, Loki S1, What If, and She-Hulk were all appreciably worse in terms of fidelity to quality

marvel72 - 11/6/2023, 11:49 AM

Just recast Kang, Kevin Spacey would have made a great Kang The Conqueror.

SauronthePower - 11/6/2023, 12:18 PM

@marvel72 - Denzel, Keith David, Iwuji or no recast

marvel72 - 11/6/2023, 12:37 PM

@SauronthePower - You don't have to cast a black actor,he can be a variant.

There is variants of Loki that are different to the original Loki.

SauronthePower - 11/6/2023, 1:47 PM

@marvel72 - I would think that they would want to stay as close to Majors as possible. If they went cross-racially, the general public would lose their shit

rychlec - 11/6/2023, 11:57 AM

Doom should not be rushed in to save Secret Wars. Save him for when this multiverse mess wraps up. I would like to see Annihilus, though.

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AVENGERS: If Kang Is Doomed, These 6 Villains Could Be The Multiverse Saga's New Main Villain

All signs point to Marvel Studios moving on from Kang as the Multiverse Saga's big bad, so where does that leave the MCU? Here, we take a look at 6 exciting possibilities to take the Conqueror's place...

6. Red Skull

5. Magneto

4. Iron Man

3. Annihilus

2. Loki

1. Thanos

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