In the infinite Marvel Multiverse, there is no villain as powerful as Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors). Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania kicks off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the introduction of the Reigning Time Lord – a multiversal variant of He Who Remains (Majors), manipulator of the timeline-pruning Time Variance Authority in Disney+’s Loki – which Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) warns has the power to “rewrite existence and destroy timelines”. In Quantumaniawill Marvel moviegoers come to understand why Kang is the existential threat that brings together Earth’s mightiest heroes in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty And Avengers: Secret Wars.

“This movie is the biggest of the three. We decided that if we got the chance to do a third round, we wanted to go crazy,” Ant-Man and Ant-Man and the Wasp director Peyton Reed told me. THR. “We wanted to beat Scott Lang a little bit. It’s still comedic, but it also takes a really serious turn. We like the idea of ​​putting the shortest Avengers, and Avengers that fans think are the least powerful Avengers, and [putting] them against the most powerful villain in the multiverse.”

After Avengers: Endgame Pit size-shifting superhero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) against Thanos (Josh Brolin) and his alien army, they find themselves trapped in the “basement of the Multiverse”: the Quantum Realm. Teaming up with Scott’s aspiring superhero daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) and Hope’s parents, Janet and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), the Ant-Fam take on “the big villain” without help from the new Avengers.

“We knew early on that we wanted to pit Ant-Man and the Wasp against the big villain,” Reed said. “I loved Kang growing up as a comic book reader. And we watched a lot of Kangs, but I cast Jonathan because he had it all. He’s physically impressive. He’s one of the most exciting actors I’ve ever met and worked with . He’s just a force of nature.”

In the comics, Kang the Conqueror is the self-proclaimed master of time who has gone by many names in many timelines: Immortus, Rama-Tut, Scarlet Centurion, Victor Timely, Iron Lad. Quantumania presents the time-travelling warlord as ‘the Conqueror’, swearing vengeance on those who banished him to the Quantum Realm. “I’ll burn them out of time,” Kang growls in a recent promo clip that reveals a new take on the villain and his underling, MODOK

“If you know the comics, you know [Kang’s] very important to them,” added producer Stephen Broussard. “And so it’s been kind of like the crown jewel that we know we had when there was [was] an idea for.”

With Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton, William Jackson Harper, Katy O’Brian, David Dastmalchian, Bill Murray and Jonathan Majors, Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opens in theaters February 17 only.