Jonathan Majors(Lovecraft Country, Da 5 Bloods)will be joining the thirdAnt-Manmovie. Officially, he has an unnamed lead role, opposite the returningPaul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly; unofficially, as per rumors and “sources close to the project,” Majors will play the classic Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror. If that’s true, it’s one more step towards the imminent debut of the fan-favorite Young Avengers team in the MCU.
Kang, a time-traveling warlord, was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1964’sAvengers#8. He’s been a continuity nightmare almost since the moment he showed up, but the general idea behind the character has remained relatively consistent: He’s a jerk from the future who wants to conquer the present day, as the war-torn Earth of the 30thcentury is too damaged to be worth ruling. It makes sense for Kang to show up now in the MCU asan antagonist for Scott Lang, since Scott accidentally discovered time travel inAvengers: Endgame.
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A heroic, teenage version of Kang, Nathaniel “Iron Lad” Richards, was introduced in 2005 inYoung Avengers,created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. Nate, upon discovering what he would grow up to be, stole a suit of armor, fled to the 20thcentury, and formed a team of teenage superheroes to oppose Kang. Several of the characters fromYoung Avengersbecame immediately popular with comics fans, such as Kate Bishop (sooncoming toMarvel’s Avengersas DLC, voiced by Ashly Burch), who took the name Hawkeye to honor the dead-at-the-time (comics!) Clint Barton.
Marvel Studios has quietly been laying the groundwork for a while now to introduce the Young Avengers into the MCU. Kate is planned to appear in the2022 Disney+ seriesHawkeye,alongside Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, and another Young Avenger, Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang, was played by Emma Fuhrmann inEndgame.It’s currently rumored that more Young Avengers, like Billy Kaplan and America Chavez, may make their debut in future Marvel live-action projects like theDoctor Strangesequel and this winter’sWandaVision. If Kang does appear inAnt-Man 3,that sets up the possibility for some version of Nate to appear, and to possibly meet Cassie.
Ant-Man 3(working title) will be the third feature-length film in the MCU’s “Phase Five,” followingBlack Panther 2(in whatever shape that takes) andCaptain Marvel 2. Peyton Reed is planned to return for a third-time in theAnt-Mandirector’s chair, working from a script byRick and Mortywriter Jeff Loveness.
Being cast as Kang (maybe) is another big career move for Jonathan Majors, who followed up his performance in Netflix’sDa 5 Bloodsearlier this year with a lead role in HBO’s hit historical horror dramaLovecraft Country. Majors has been on a meteoric rise for the last couple of years, with parts inWhen We Rise, Captive State,andThe Last Black Man in San Francisco.
Ant-Man 3is currently scheduled to hit theaters at some point in 2022, assuming “movie theaters” still exist at that point.
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