MCU fans are excited about Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania because the film will have massive ramifications for the entire MCU. But one early preview clip has raised an interesting question about Kang and what he’s been up to before the audience meets him. Specifically, has Kang met the Avengers before?
What does Kang say in the clip?
A few days ago, the Rotten Tomatoes Coming Soon YouTube page posted a clip from Quantumania titled “I’m an Avenger.” In this clip, we see Kang and Ant-Man having a face-to-face encounter. Ant-Man tries to intimidate Kang, saying: “I’m an Avenger. I’ve called the other Avengers.”
However, Kang interrupts and asks Ant-Man, “Have I killed you before?” Kang then adds that “they all blur together after a while. You’re not the one with the hammer?” Implying that Kang has previously met and killed other Avengers.
How has Kang fought the Avengers before?
While Kang has fought the Avengers many times in the comics, most notably in the Kang Dynasty storyline, he has yet to lock horns with the Avengers in the MCU, especially as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will be his cinematic debut.
However, this line could give us a fascinating glimpse into Kang’s history. At the end of Loki season one, He Who Remains explained that Kang started the Multiversal War, aiming to take over all other universes. If an event like this happened, it makes sense that any Avengers team found within Kang’s universe, or the universe he was invading, would try to stop him, leading to Kang clashing with the heroes.
This would also explain why he asks Ant-Man if he’s the “one with the hammer.” As we saw in Loki, variants don’t look the same, so the versions of the Avengers he fought could look very different from the Avengers team we currently know. In fact, as Kang doesn’t specify the gender of the “one with the hammer,” the last Avengers team he fought may have featured Mighty Thor rather than Thor. This would also explain why they all “blur together” after a while, as each version is different, despite working off a similar base, meaning Kang can’t simply memorize what each member looks like.
Another possible option is that time travel is involved in some manner. The comic book version of Kang frequently travels through time, changing history to try and tip things in his favor or remove his foes from history. So this version of Kang could have already fought the Avengers, but once the fight was complete, he moved backwards in time. So from Kang’s perspective, he’s already done battle with the Avengers. However, for us, that battle will occur in the future.
This could explain why Kang asks Ant-Man if he’s killed him before. Kang could be trying to work out the causality and history of his current timeline so he can manipulate events more effectively or he may be trying to see if his previous changes to the timeline actually worked.
Hopefully, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania gives us a glimpse at what these previous battles with the Avengers looked like. However, one thing is certain, the Avengers in this universe better be on their guard as Kang could easily be their most dangerous foe to date.