'Loki' Continues to Tease a Huge Future MCU Villain
The following story contains spoilers for Loki.
Fans have long been wondering who the MCU's next big, overarching villain would be, and at the very least got a hint at one of them.
Kang the Conqueror, a character set to make his debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, appeared to make his silent MCU debut in episode 1 of Loki.
Kang went on to been hinted at multiple times throughout Loki.
There's been a big question among the MCU's fanbase ever since Avengers: Endgame hit theaters about who could possibly be the next Thanos—a major villain teased over several projects before eventually reaching an epic showdown. Some thought that might be Mephisto, the Marvel Comics version of the Devil. Others have questioned if maybe it's time for the MCU to bring in its own version of Norman Osborn, the Spider-Man arch-nemesis played most famously by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi's films. But one big villain we know for sure is coming—the time-traveling Kang the Conqueror—was seemingly introduced in the first episode of Disney+'s Loki, without so much as even his name being uttered.
In a sequence narrated by a talking clock named Miss Minutes (prolific voice actor Tara Strong), Loki (and the viewers) learn all about the Time Variance Authority's whole deal, and, in particular, the three "Timekeepers." As the story goes, a long, long time ago, there was a battle of timelines, a war within the multiverse that nearly resulted in the end of anything resembling life. That was, until three "Timekeepers" came into prominence, reorganizing the messiness of the multiverse into one "sacred timeline."
One of those three Timekeepers, for anyone who knows what to look for, had an uncanny resemblance to Kang the Conqueror. Kang is a longtime Marvel Comics villain, who first appeared (as Kang, he previously went by the name Rama-Tut) in Avengers #8 back in 1964. Kang is known for his time-traveling abilities—which makes him a perfect fit for this moment in Loki, and helps to clearly confirm that it is, in fact, him.
Kang's appearance in the MCU is no surprise. Jonathan Majors has already been officially cast as the character, and is scheduled to make his official debut in 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. But if you look at the Timekeepers—the one in the center looks just like Kang, and the animated face even looks a bit like Majors, as opposed to one of the many artist renderings from his various Marvel Comic depictions.
The Miss Minutes video goes on to talk about "Variants," (what Loki is; basically, anyone who does something that wasn't supposed to happen, according to the all-knowing sacred timeline that's been set in place) and "Nexus events," (which are what an event is called when someone breaks off the path that they're supposed to be on).
If the latter sounds familiar, it's because there was already a fake commercial in WandaVision teasing Nexus, which did, in a way, confirm this moment was coming. In the Marvel Comics, Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch is one of the few "Nexus Beings," meaning she can travel within alternate dimensions at minimal damage to herself; Kang is another Nexus being. It feels clear that MCU is prepping everyone for some major multiverse happenings, with Nexus beings and Nexus events at the center.
The animated version of Kang was consistently at the center of the three Timekeepers each time he was shown on screen. And he later appeared again, in a sculpture in the background of Loki's TVA hearing. Once again, Kang was the center timekeeper.
It's intriguing to wonder where things might go from here, since it is so definitively, clearly, Kang the Conqueror. The character of Kang in the history of Marvel Comics is almost always a master physicist, traveling through times and creating alternate versions of himself. Could Kang perhaps be a rogue timekeeper? Could he be simply a bad actor who, similarly to what we presume Loki will do, bounced through time and found himself in a position of extreme power?
The rest of the story will contain Loki Episode 6 (and the rest of the series) spoilers, so read on at your own risk.
Without so much as a name drop, the finale of Loki Season 1—Episode 6, titled "For All Time. Always."—brought Kang into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though this time he was referred to as "He Who Remains," played by Majors in MCU debut, and was revealed to be the big force behind the TVA (and while it's not clear if his name is Kang, he did say that some have called him a "conqueror." We get the reference).
Majors casting as Kang was first announced last September, but he wasn't officially revealed as Kang until December. Clearly, this gave enough time to work a substantial role in this finale episode; in terms of major villain teases/introductions, this was a hell of a lot more exciting than even the first Thanos tease in The Avengers or even the "Fine, I'll do it myself," credits scene from Age of Ultron.
It's hard for us to go through too much of what we got from Kang, but as "He Who Remains" most notably explained, "If you think I'm evil, well, just wait until you meet my variants." One of those variants will 100% be named Kang the Conqueror, and will be one hell of a villain.
Episode 5 gave some subtle hints.
In following Episode 4's major revelations, Episode 5 let us know that Ravonna Renslayer (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) appears to be just as in the dark as the rest of the characters about who, exactly, is in charge o the TVA. But that also might just be what she wants them to think. As we'll get into a bit below, Ravonna and Kang have a deep connection in the Marvel Comics, and that could be an established thing here, or something we continue to build towards.
As Loki and Sylvie enchanted Alioth at the end of Episode 5 and saw what the monster was guarding, the green, purple. and blue color scheme did seem to mirror the comics-traditional look of Kang the Conqueror.
Can we talk about how the color scheme of this shot is so similar to Kang The Conqueror (Green, Purple & Blue) + that little Easter Egg in the new #Loki Episode… 👁👁 pic.twitter.com/nqREMxVoWY
— Brenton (@dcuverse) July 7, 2021
Kang may not be a Timekeeper—he might be the Timekeeper.
Episode 4 of Loki revealed what some of the previous episodes have been building towards—that the TVA is made up, and the three sacred Timekeepers, or at least everyone's basic understanding of them, was a ruse. Loki and Sylvie fought off Ravonna and others, eventually revealing that the three Timekeepers, as they were presented, were basically Chuck E. Cheese-style animatronic robots. (Which, honestly, good move, because they looked and sounded ROUGH.).
After Ravonna pruned Loki into god-knows-where, she dared Sylvie to prune her back. But Sylvie wants to know everything. Someone else is pulling the strings, and it seems likely that this could be where we get the introduction to Kang—who may have just made that center Timekeeper in his own image. And Ravonna's connection to Kang in the comics, and general sketchiness about everything that's gone on so far, seems to point in that direction.
Ravonna Renslayer is directly connected to Kang the Conqueror in the Marvel Comics.
Starting with the second episode of Loki, references to that middle Timekeeper, who certainly resembles Kang (and his future MCU actor, Majors) were prominent. But it's also worth noting that the episode more prominently featured Ravonna, who in this MCU iteration served as the messenger of sorts between the Timekeepers and Loki (and Mobius, too, as we see), in her role as what essentially amounts to TVA judge/administrator.
But we should probably also mention that the comic version of Ravonna Renslayer is...Kang the Conqueror's on-again, off-again girlfriend. She and he have numerous intergalactic and inter-dimensional adventures, that usually come down to his loving her, and her resenting him due to his ambition to conquer. The MCU often deviates from the comic baseline, but this must be mentioned in this scenario.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who plays Ravonna, has said that Loki is like an "origin story" for her character. That could mean a lot of things, but she's doing a great job—so one thing we hope it means is that Loki isn't the end of her MCU road, but the beginning.
Ravonna has acted sketchy about the Timekeepers, and who works for her.
Mobius, in Ravonna's office, also notices items in her office that he doesn't remember bringing her. She suggests that she's got other agents bringing her things, but the context here seems to be setting up a bigger twist. It's possible that we're building towards a Kang reveal (or, at least a mention).
The figure resembling Kang continued to appear throughout the series as that middle Timekeeper. The image above is in Ravonna's office.
We also see enormous statues of the Timekeepers in the TVA, right near the elevators. That scale tells you just how big they are; that middle Timekeeper still looking mighty familiar.
Episode 4 showed that these Timekeepers, as presented, weren't really anything—but it's possible (likely?) that Kang created that middle one in his own image.
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