Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man 3 announced the first new addition to the cast yesterday, and it looks to be a pretty big one. Not only is Jonathan Majors the sort of fast-rising young talent that Marvel Studios loves to hire, with the 31 year-old in the midst of a breakout year after lending support in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods and taking the lead role in HBO’s acclaimed Lovecraft County, but the news came with the massive reveal that he could be playing Kang the Conqueror.
The Ant-Man series has regularly been dismissed as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s least important solo franchise, but that all looks set to change in the third installment. Not only has the movie regularly been linked with introducing and establishing the Young Avengers, but rumors of Kang’s involvement go back months as the MCU’s smallest hero gears up to become a more integral part of the shared universe than ever before.
Kang’s comic book origins also place him as a distant descendant of Reed Richards from the future, so Ant-Man 3 could perhaps even begin laying the foundations for the Fantastic Four reboot, something that’s also been speculated in the past. In any case, following the news of Majors’ casting, fans were quick to head onto social media and let their enthusiasm be known, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
https://twitter.com/DanteSelgem/status/1305541788585795588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305541788585795588%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Ffantastic-four-fans-hyped-kang-cast-ant-man-3-jonathan-majors%2F
Jonathan Majors will be amazing as Kang the Conqueror, but I think more than anything, Ant-Man 3 is a fascinating place for him to appear.
The last film with Ant-Man, Avengers: Endgame, was all about time travel. This is a fascinating creative choice that opens up a LOT. pic.twitter.com/7ncW1at9hc
— Ant đ Waiting on Edits For My Novel (@AGramuglia) September 14, 2020
I love Kang The Conqueror! https://t.co/dvxsYY4ZIV
— robliefeld (@robertliefeld) September 14, 2020
wait what?? Kang the Conqueror for Ant-Man?? That sounds amazing
— lewisjwr đ¤ đĒŠ (@lewisjwr) September 14, 2020
Jonathan Majors potentially playing KANG THE CONQUEROR in ANT-MAN 3 is exciting – probably my second favorite Marvel villain behind DOCTOR DOOM. pic.twitter.com/eIQBZxFmSq
— Adam Frazier (@AdamFrazier) September 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/shawngorlando/status/1305560425493401600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305560425493401600%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Ffantastic-four-fans-hyped-kang-cast-ant-man-3-jonathan-majors%2F
https://twitter.com/ERodBuster1/status/1305566245648039939?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305566245648039939%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Ffantastic-four-fans-hyped-kang-cast-ant-man-3-jonathan-majors%2F
https://twitter.com/ashonfilme/status/1305541743593496577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305541743593496577%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Ffantastic-four-fans-hyped-kang-cast-ant-man-3-jonathan-majors%2F
OOOH đđđđđ
WE GETTING KANG THE CONQUEROR!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/t5naptDGd9— Alex đĨ (@spacemoonblues) September 14, 2020
https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1305544448428912643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1305544906644037632%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Ffantastic-four-fans-hyped-kang-cast-ant-man-3-jonathan-majors%2F
If Ant-Man 3 does end up debuting the Young Avengers, bringing an iconic villain like Kang into the MCU and planting the seeds for the Fantastic Four, then we’re definitely talking about one of the most important movies in the franchise’s immediate future, which is something not a lot people would have imagined after Scott Lang’s previous adventures were deliberately much smaller in scale than the majority of the studio’s output.