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Image via Marvel Studios
The hits just keep on coming for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, with the 31st installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following up its unwanted critical reactions to start setting new lows for the franchise – and the superhero genre in general – at the box office.
Obviously, this isn’t what director Peyton Reed, writer Jeff Loveness, chief creative officer Kevin Feige, or any fans imagined or wanted when the hype train was powering straight ahead at full speed, with the overwhelmingly apathetic response to the Phase Five kickoff leaving the rest of the Multiverse Saga with an awful lot of work to do.
Jonathan Majors may have delivered as Kang the Conqueror performance-wise, but the same can’t be said about the character. After being ominously teased by everyone on either side of the camera as a formidable threat, the Multiverse Saga’s big bad failed to deliver and ended the movie in exactly the same position as which he started; hardly enough to instill fear.
In an interview with Collider, scribe Loveness defended his interpretation of Kang and his actions throughout Quantumania, even if it hardly got people buzzing for the all-powerful antagonist set to drive another three years and change of the MCU.
“I really defend our portrayal of Kang because we got to show a weakened, vulnerable Kang that’s sort of like Lion in Winter Kang, exiled Kang, and we got to strip him away from his almost omnipotent time powers, and we really got to see the person. I think that really shines through in those scenes with Janet.
That, to me, was way more important than showing a flashback of him killing the Hulk or something, you know? There’s gonna be plenty of time for that stuff. Don’t worry. I’m so happy that we got to show the broken humanity of Kang the Conqueror because now you’re gonna be rooting for that guy in whatever form he shows up, and whatever version of him he is. I’m thrilled with what Jonathan did. It was just masterful to watch him.”
As the credits reminded us, “Kang Will Return.” Lets hope that when that day comes, he’s finally presented as the unstoppable force we were told he was, but Quantumania never showed.