The villains are as integral to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the heroes and it appears that the next slate of MCU films, starting with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is about to get the best of them.
Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, had high praise for Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, saying:
In the early days of ‘Quantumania’ [test screenings], Jonathan started to pop in a big way. He’s the highest-testing villain we’ve ever had in any of our friends and families [screenings]. That’s really saying something with a movie like this. Even early on without the effects, Jonathan is his own effect. He was working from the start.
Jonathan Majors, who's had a relatively quick rise through the Hollywood ranks since appearing as a young Ken Jones in 2017's When We Rise, has had multiple impactful performances over the years. Although Majors hasn't won a significant Hollywood award for his acting performance yet, many believe it's only a matter of time. Majors' Kang likely won't be winning him an Oscar award anytime soon but Feige's praise is noteworthy.
Unlike Thanos, who was more of a behind-the-scenes orchestrator during the Infinity saga of the MCU, Kang is going to join the Multiverse Saga much earlier as Ant-Man 3 hits theaters on February 17.
Majors' first appearance as Kang on the big screen is important. When you consider Feige's praise and what the critics are saying about Ant-Man 3, it appears Majors put in the work to do Kang justice.
Perhaps the only valid question left now is, how much more Majors are we going to see in the MCU? After debuting as He Who Remains the Loki Season 1 finale, Majors might play more Kang variants going forward. After all, the last we heard is that the Beyonder will serve as the main antagonist of Avengers: Secret Wars and Marvel could re-write him as a Kang variant.
For now, Majors' future appearances in the MCU are pure speculation. What's guaranteed is that Feige and the critics love his performance so far. We'll find out soon enough if audiences have similar thoughts.
