Peyton Reed Talks About How Kang the Conqueror's Arrival in ANT-MAN 3 Will Send Ripples Through the MCU

We are just a few months away from the next big title in the MCU, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and it promises to rock the Marvel universe. We were introduced to the film’s villain, Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors, at the end of season 1 of the Disney+ series Loki. We will really get to see what he is capable of in Ant-Man 3, and he will be Marvel’s biggest nemesis since Thanos, as his reign will last through the two upcoming epic Marvel movies, Avengers: Secret Wars and Avengers: Kang Dynasty.

Ant-Man franchise director Peyton Reed sat down to talk about the villain and his “profound impact on the MCU” with Empire, saying:

“I think it has a profound impact on the MCU. Jeff Loveness, who wrote this movie, is writing The Kang Dynasty as well, so there’s been a lot of discussion about the impact that this appearance of Kang The Conqueror makes. There are big things in store.”

For audiences, it’ll be a chance to see what Majors can bring to Kang’s alternate selves. It’s said that he will bring a completely different energy from what we saw in Loki. Reed teased:

“Kang The Conqueror in our movie is a very different character. He’s someone who has dominion over time, and he’s a warrior and a strategist.”

Given that Ant-Man’s previous villains have been lower-level threats like Yellowjacket and Ghost, as well as Walton Goggins’ Sonny Burch, this was an opportunity to have him face, as Reed calls it, “an all-timer antagonist,” a villain as huge as they come.

“That’s interesting to me: to take the tiniest, and in some people’s minds weakest, Avenger, and put them up against this absolute force of nature.”

I love Ant-Man. He didn’t get the credit he deserved for the role he played in Avengers: Endgame, and I know he is capable of holding his own, at least with the help of his Avenger friends. I’m stoked for this next phase, and I look forward to seeing what Kang will bring our way.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is set to hit theaters on July 28, 2023.