Marvel Studios is now entering Phase 5 as “Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania” is set to be the first installment of the new Phase and will give us a better look at the new big-bad, Kang The Conqueror, played by rising star Jonathan Majors (“Creed III“). Kang is expected to give our MCU heroes a real struggle as they’re not only dealing with one incarnation but a wave of variants. The Multiverse Saga will include “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (“Shang-Chi“) giving the time-traveling villain a heap of heroes to thwart leading into “Avengers: Secret Wars.”
Majors isn’t ready to dish details about the upcoming “Avengers” installment since it is only in the development stage with Jeff Loveness (“Rick & Morty,” “Ant-Man 3“) writing the screenplay, but while speaking with Lifehacker Australia the actor dropped an early campaign to have Robert Downey Jr. return as Iron Man. Mainly, because Majors would be hyped to see Kang interact with the original Avenger and work with the actor if given the chance.
“So ‘Kang Dynasty’ – I can’t even think about it because I’m so excited about [‘Quantumania’] – but ‘Kang Dynasty’ feels to me that it has the potential to grow the mythology of Kang, to grow the curiosity of Kang that much more, which is extremely exciting,” said Majors. “This is like a Robert Downey Jr. day, he just keeps popping in [to my head]. Like, I know he’s an OG. I mean, he’s one of the originals. I’m just such a huge fan of him as an actor. I think what he did with Iron Man was such a gift to the culture at large.”
The actor continued, “I would love to be across from him on screen to see how our philosophies, acting-wise and character-wise, just personally, match up. You know, I find him to be such a fascinating artist, which is why Iron Man is so fascinating. His portrayal of Iron Man is so fascinating and he represents a very clear worldview and energy of the Avengers. And I think Kang represents a different era.”
Thankfully for Majors, it is a Multiverse film and he could end up getting his wish even though the 616 version of Tony Stark is dead after “Avengers: Endgame,” he is likely still alive in universes and those other variants might not be as heroic. In the comic books, Kang is from the 30th Century and uses technology to move between space and time, alongside the Multiverse giving him access to all sorts of threats and potential allies. There had been rumblings that Downey Jr. could potentially return as part of The Illuminati sequence in the 838 universe seen in “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness” but that ultimately didn’t happen. However, given the Multiverse is now the focus of these next two “Avengers” installments there is a plot device in play that could allow him to return or have another high-profile actor put the suit on.
But it remains to be seen if Marvel is ready to resurrect Tony Stark or bring in his variants when they have the “Ironheart” Disney+ series and a War Machine solo film, “Armor Wars,” on the horizon. “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” is set for release on May 2, 2025, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that studio head Kevin Feige is willing to share more details soon with San Diego Comic-Con making a return this July.