As the build continues to Season 2 of Loki, it looks like the character of Kang will play a major part. However, fans may be confused as to the various versions of Kang already popping into the MCU. Here’s a quick guide to the faces of Kang and which ones can plague Loki this season.
Even for veteran comic book writers, trying to make sense of the backstory of Kang the Conqueror can be a daunting task. The original idea was that he was a time traveler from the 30th century, bored with a utopian future, and so traveled to the past to fight the Avengers. Over the decades, Kang has kept up various attacks, at one point even conquering Earth before being defeated.
However, the character has also become part of the vast multiverse as other timelines have their versions of Kang. There was even a “Council of Kangs” made up of the various versions who worked together, although many would scheme against their counterparts. So far, the MCU has shown a few versions, which can confuse the casual viewer. Here's a quick guide to who's who among the Kangs.
He Who Remains
The first version of Kang (all played by Jonathan Majors) appeared in the Season 1 finale of Loki. He had a calm attitude, almost sedate, as he explained he had fought a war against his counterparts to maintain the multiverse and held it together. He wanted Loki to take over for him but ended up being stabbed by Sylvie.
As the variant warned, killing him restarted a brand new multiverse, one where another version of Kang ruled the TVA. So this version appears to be gone…for now.
The Renegade
This is the version of Kang who starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Supposedly, this incarnation was so twisted that even the other Kangs feared him and exiled him to the Quantumverse. He mentions having killed so many alternate versions of the Avengers he doesn’t remember them all and spent the movie attempting to escape the Quantumverse and conquer Earth.
The film ended with this variant seemingly killed, but all that did was make the Council of Kangs take notice of how dangerous Earth was. They thus planned their own moves.